Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers), which is one of the largest Canadian pension funds and has around $91.5 billion in net assets, has appointed Ashish Goyal as an executive vice president and head of Asia-Pacific.
In his new role, Goyal’s will lead the strategic growth of the fund across its various asset classes in the region, including establishment of new relationships and partnerships.
Goyal, who is based in the Omers Singapore office, will report directly to incoming chief investment officer Ralph Berg. Both Goyal and Berg assume their new roles on April 1.
Goyal joined Omers in 2019 to lead the Asia-Pacific region capital markets business. He has over three decades of investment experience with leading global asset managers out of offices in Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong.
“Ashish has a wealth of investment, leadership and operational experience that will be invaluable to accelerating Omers’ ambitious growth plans in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Berg.
Prior joining to Omers, Goyal was the investment director at Eatspring Investments, where he joined in January 1998. He has also worked as a portfolio manager at ICICI Prudential AMC Ltd.
“It is a privilege to work every day on behalf of the more than 550,000 members of the Omers pension plan. Omers places great importance on partnerships and collaborating with others to mutual benefit, and I look forward to further advancing our global relationships,” said Goyal.
Omers opened its Singapore office in early 2018, and its office in Sydney, Australia in 2014. As of December 31, 2022, 11% of Omers’ portfolio was invested in Asia-Pacific.
The fund invests in equities of companies, lends to borrowers and partners with like-minded co-investors in underwriting the Asia growth story, the fund said in a statement.
In India, Omers looks to invest in four out of the five sectors - energy transition, mobility, digital infrastructure and natural systems. The fund picked up a 19.4% stake in New Delhi-based and NYSE-listed Azure Power in 2021.
In 2019, it acquired a 22.4% interest in the infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd (L&T IDPL) for Rs 870 crore
It is also in the advanced stages of discussion to invest in Mumbai-based rooftop solar power producer, CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd, VCCircle reported last month.
