Municipal employee pension fund OMERS produced an 8.7% rate of return in 2007, exceeding its benchmark of 5.6% for the fourth consecutive year.

Thanks to strong returns from real estate, infrastructure, and private equity investments, net assets grew by $3.9 billion to $51.5 billion last year.

OMERS management credits the growth to an asset mix program that creates a balance between its private investments and public markets to achieve stable returns over the long-term.

“OMERS’s strong 2007 returns were due to the successful execution of our active management investment strategy, anchored by the strong returns realized by the three private market lines of business: real estate, infrastructure and private equity,” says John Sabo, chair of the OMERS Administration Corporation board of directors.

The fund’s 2007 growth has resulted in a funding surplus of $100 million, compared to its $2.4 billion deficit in 2006.

Canada’s sixth-largest pension fund, OMERS provides pension services to more than 380,000 active and retired members.

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