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One of Canada\u2019s biggest pension funds has parted ways with two top infrastructure executives after writing off its stake in Thames Water and the souring of another high-profile European investment.<\/p>\n
Alastair Hall, senior managing director for Europe, and Chris Hogg, a director who led the firm\u2019s digital infrastructure investments, have left Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System in recent weeks, according to three people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
The exits follow struggles at two of Omers<\/a>\u2019 top investments. Hall, who joined in 2014, was involved in the fund\u2019s investment in Thames Water<\/a>. The fund was the utility\u2019s largest shareholder and wrote off its entire 31 per cent stake in 2024.<\/p>\n Hogg, who joined in 2023, was one of the lead executives on Deutsche Glasfaser<\/a>, a heavily indebted German broadband provider now scrambling to secure its financial future. Omers jointly bought Glasfaser with EQT in 2020 and holds a 49 per cent stake.<\/p>\n In December, the pension fund proposed a \u20ac1.7bn refinancing deal to Glasfaser\u2019s creditors alongside EQT under which the owners would inject \u20ac1.1bn of \u201cpreferred\u201d equity in exchange for\u00a0\u20ac600mn of \u201csuper senior\u201d debt.<\/p>\n Holders of the \u201csuper senior\u201d debt would be the first to be repaid in the event of a bankruptcy, while \u201cpreferred\u201d equity investors would get priority over the previous equity put into the business.<\/p>\n The shareholders have already invested \u20ac4bn into Glasfaser since purchasing it from KKR in 2020. Last year, they were forced to scale back the company\u2019s original goal of serving 6mn homes by 2032 to just 3.2mn, in an effort to cut costs and stabilise the business.<\/p>\n A person familiar with the matter said Hogg was not the most senior Omers executive responsible for Glasfaser.<\/p>\n Omers manages C$141bn (about $104bn) of assets on behalf of 640,000 current or former public-sector and community workers in Canada\u2019s Ontario province. <\/p>\n Some 22 per cent of the fund was invested in infrastructure at the end of June, with 19 per cent in private equity and 13 per cent in private credit. European investments account for 18 per cent of the total portfolio.<\/p>\n The fund is exploring the sale of its 33 per cent stake in Associated British Ports<\/a> in a deal it hopes will complete in the second half of this year and value the UK\u2019s biggest ports operator at more than \u00a310bn.<\/p>\n