OMERS retirement fund improves investment return to 10.3 per cent

TORONTO — The OMERS pension fund for nearly half a million public-sector workers in Ontario says it achieved a 10.3 per cent net investment return in 2016 — the highest in six years. The Toronto-based fund manager says its net assets rose by $8.1 billion to $85.2 billion at the end of 2016. It was the best year for OMERS since 2010, when its net rate of return was 11.4 per cent. OMERS — one of Canada’s biggest pension fund managers — manages investments on behalf of 470,000 members from city governments, school boards, emergency services and local agencies across Ontario. In 2016, about $3.6 billion in benefits were paid to nearly 150,000 retired members of the plan.