As reported in December 2019, Blake Hutcheson has succeeded Michael Latimer as the new chief executive officer of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, effective June 1.
Over 10 years at the pension fund, Hutcheson was previously its president and chief pension officer and spent about eight years as CEO of Oxford Properties, the OMERS’ real estate arm. Prior to the OMERS, he headed global real estate at international private equity firm Mount Kellett Capital Management and was chairman and president of the Canadian, Latin American and Mexican operations for CBRE Group Inc.
“Since its founding in 1962, OMERS has lived its purpose as a defined benefit pension plan to meet the retirement income needs of its members which consists of employees of municipal governments and local agencies and boards in the province of Ontario,” said Hutcheson, in a press release. “Right now, many OMERS members are working directly on the frontlines of Ontario’s response to the pandemic. I am deeply honoured and humbled to have the opportunity to work every day for them and all of our more than 500,000 members, and 1,000 employers.”
Latimer is retiring after two decades at the pension fund and six years at its helm. Under his leadership, the OMERS increased its assets from $65 billion to more than $109 billion. It achieved an annualized net return of 8.5 per cent over this period, driven by a shift in asset mix, with $33 billion of capital moving into private investment asset classes during Latimer’s tenure, as well as entrance into markets well beyond Canada’s borders.