Letter from Celine Chiovitti, Executive Vice President & Head of Pensions

One of the best parts of summer is getting outdoors and reconnecting with family, friends and nature. This year has felt extra special after a few years of solitude during the pandemic, and I have had the opportunity to meet with many OMERS members at events across the province. It is always so great to meet you and hear about what your OMERS pension means to you.

A few common themes emerged from those conversations. Retired members who are collecting a monthly pension have told me they are doing things they always dreamed of doing while working — everything from golf and gardening to travel, spending time with grandchildren and doing community service. Knowing they will receive their pension payment every month for the rest of their lives gives them peace of mind and allows them to enjoy their retirement. This sentiment is shared by Bethany Moir, who is featured in our member spotlight this month.

Many active members are starting to think about their own retirement. For some it’s in the near future and for others there is still a long way to go! Most active members should have received their Annual Pension Statement by now, which provides important details about your personal pension. If you have a myOMERS account, you can access your statement there. Your pension is one of your greatest assets, and I strongly encourage you to read this important document and ensure your information is up to date and accurate, including your beneficiary and address.

It seems like everyone is thinking about the current economy, the impact of inflation and interest rates, and trying to make their dollars stretch further than ever before. We are very fortunate to have access to a defined benefit pension plan that provides us with income security in retirement. The OMERS pension does more than just that — it also helps Ontarians by creating jobs, generating income and paying pensions, thereby contributing to Ontario’s economic vitality. This is one of the reasons we are very excited to allow more people to join the Plan through the expansion of eligibility to all non-full-time employees on January 1, 2023. Read more about this Plan change.

Next month, OMERS will publish its mid-year financial results. We’ll share the results with you in this newsletter the same day they are released. You’ll learn about OMERS financial performance for the first half of the year and non-financial highlights from our President and CEO Blake Hutcheson as you did in February when we published our 2021 Annual Report. Transparency is important, which is why we have moved to mid-year reporting. However, as a pension plan, we measure results over the long term and often say that for us a quarter is measured in 25 years!

In this issue, we cover the bridge benefit to remind you how this pension benefit is calculated and how it continues until you turn 65, when your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) pension benefits are expected to begin. It’s one of the topics we’re most frequently asked about, so we figured an educational article in our monthly newsletter was due!

We also have an inspiring article about a joint acquisition between OMERS Infrastructure and APG (a Dutch pension investment company) of Groendus, a rooftop solar, metering and energy services platform based in the Netherlands. This is OMERS first investment in the Netherlands and our first investment in European renewable energy. I think you’ll enjoy reading this piece, particularly if you’re curious to learn more about OMERS Sustainable Investing.

Finally, we have an article on Shared Risk Indexing (SRI), a Plan change coming into effect on January 1, 2023 to help enhance the Plan’s health and sustainability. This article covers the scope of SRI and its effects with four key facts you should know.