Letter from the President:

Here for you, here for each other

When I started to write this message to you several weeks ago, the reality of COVID-19 had not yet spread to the global community. Fast-forward to today, and we are all trying to make sense of the two powerful forces that are working at exact odds to each other: the health of our global community vs. the health of our global economy. This is a difficult time for everyone and our thoughts and warm wishes go out to all of you. Thank you also to all of our OMERS members who are on the front lines helping others navigate this virus directly.

Up front, I wanted to address the one concern that we often hear – yes, despite this financial turbulence you will still receive your pension as usual and on time! A promise is a promise.

At OMERS our mantra is prudence, not panic.

We all recognize that these markets are extremely difficult to navigate, and our portfolio will suffer – as will everyone’s – during this period. Yet we have a highly capable and experienced global enterprise and we are built to come through all cycles, however difficult some might be.

I want to assure you that OMERS pension is built for the long run. Our strength is in our diversity – of our people, of our investments, of our ideas and of our members – and we will always be here for you.

Please know that our commitment to all of you remains the same. We look forward to continuing to connect with you here in this newsletter and throughout 2020, hopefully as our markets begin to stabilize. So please continue to stay in touch. We will do the same and give you periodic updates as to how our year is progressing with all that is transpiring at a rapid pace.

Some news about our leadership team:

  • As you know, our current CEO Michael Latimer will be retiring May 31, 2020, after 20 years of serving OMERS. I want to let you know that he and I are working together 24/7, along with our senior management team, to navigate this volatile time and he has been a terrific mentor to me. I will transition into the role on June 1, 2020. Michael has always put the member first, and we are all grateful for his leadership at OMERS over the last seven years.

  • I also wanted you to know that Annesley Wallace, previously Senior Vice President, Pension Services, has joined our Senior Executive Team as Chief Pension Officer. Annesley continues to lead our modernization initiatives for Pension Services and is now also helping to drive innovation across all of OMERS. Her steady hand during these times has been invaluable to our organization in general, and to our members specifically.

2019 Annual Report to Members

If you have not had a chance to read the annual report, you can find it here. There is important information about OMERS financial results from 2019 and a view to our 2025 Strategy. The year 2019 seems like a long time ago at this point but we think you will be pleased with our results.

OMERS Annual Meeting Webcast – April 8, 2020

Our Annual Meeting takes place on Wednesday, April 8, at 9:00 a.m. ET. You can RSVP here. Amid rising concerns over COVID-19, we have decided to present this year’s meeting as a webcast. Please feel welcome to join us digitally.

Please be safe, take care of yourself, your family and friends, and each other.

All the best,

Blake Hutcheson

President, OMERS

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