OMERS squeezes out 2.2% return in 'challenging' first half

The Bay Street Financial District in Toronto, Ont. Photo by Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press files

The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System generated a 2.2 per cent investment return in the first half of 2025 while facing down a “challenging environment for investors” amid global economic uncertainty and exposure to the United States .

The pension manager’s $3.1-billion gain for the period of Jan. 1 to June 30 pushed its net assets to $140.7 billion.

More than half of the fund’s assets, 55 per cent, are in the U.S., where the Donald Trump administration has destabilized global trade with a series of punitive tariffs .

“OMERS had a positive start in what was a particularly challenging environment for investors,” chief executive Blake Hutcheson said. “As we manage