Ontario Teachers’ Taps Pierre Cherki to Oversee New Real Estate Team

The C$250 billion ($184.3 billion) Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has named Pierre Cherki to the newly created investment leadership position of executive managing director of real estate, effective January 22, 2024. Cherki will oversee the pension fund’s in-house real estate asset group, which will be established on January 1.

The OTPP announced in June that that it will bring real estate firm Cadillac Fairview’s international investment professionals in-house. Cadillac Fairview will remain a central part of the pension fund’s global real estate portfolio, with a focus on growth, diversification and densification of its real estate assets in Canada.

Cherki will manage a team of nearly 40 investment professionals who will be based in Toronto, London, Singapore, Dallas and São Paulo, and he will oversee OTPP’s global real estate investing and portfolio management activities. The pension fund’s real estate portfolio, inclusive of assets under Cadillac Fairview, was worth C$29.3 billion as of June 30.

“For many years, real estate has been an important component of our asset mix,” Jo Taylor, president and CEO of OTPP, said in a release. “Under Pierre’s leadership, we plan to explore ways of effectively diversifying our portfolio by sector and stage internationally.”

Cherki is currently a board member at Sienna Investment Managers and Cadillac Fairview and had a 23-year career at German asset management DWS Group, where he was a member of the executive board and managing director of alternatives. He also held several senior management positions at DWS, including global head of real estate, and head of real estate for Europe and Asia Pacific.

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He earned a bachelor’s degree in management and economics from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Northwestern University.

“I’m delighted to be joining Ontario Teachers’ and look forward to leading a strong team of global professionals in supporting further growth in the real estate portfolio,” Cherki said in a release. “Real estate has been a central part of the portfolio mix at Ontario Teachers’ for more than two decades, and I am excited to build on that strong foundation to deliver value to plan members.”

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Tags: Cadillac Fairview, Canada, DWS, Jo Taylor, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, OTPP, Pension Funds, Pierre Cherki, Real Estate

The complaint claims the 2022 law not only violates the US and Oklahoma constitutions, but that that the financial costs to the state are ‘monumental.’

A retired state employee and U.S. Army veteran has filed a motion for a temporary injunction against Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ to prevent the implementation of the state’s Energy Discrimination Elimination Act, calling it “governmental overreach” and stating it “violates the First Amendment.” The injunction also claims the financial costs of the act are “monumental.”

Last year, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act of 2022, which forbids state entities, including public pension funds, from doing business with companies that boycott the oil and gas industry.

The lead plaintiff filing the injunction is Donald Keenan, a U.S. Army and Air Force veteran and a former president of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

“As a retiree under the [Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System] system, I object to my retirement benefits being depleted because the State of Oklahoma believes that making political statements with retiree dollars is more important than taking care of retirees themselves,” Keenan said in an affidavit included with the injunction. “I bring this suit to ensure that going forward, the state and the treasurer abide by their constitutional and statutory obligations to operate the retirement systems for the ‘exclusive benefit’ of its pensioners.”

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The lawsuit claims the state law “violates the First Amendment for a litany of reasons, including being compelled speech, viewpoint discrimination, and content discrimination,” adding that it is “unconstitutionally vague.” The lawsuit also claims the act violates Oklahoma’s prohibition on “special laws” by creating an exception to the rule that declaratory judgment actions do not require the losing party to pay both parties’ attorney fees.

According to the lawsuit, as of August 15, the treasurer placed BlackRock, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, State Street and Climate First Bank on the state’s restricted financial company list. The complaint also cited an analysis by the city of Stillwater that found the investment firm blacklist, which barred it from using Bank of America for an infrastructure bond issue, would cost the city more than $1 million in higher interest. The complaint also cites the Oklahoma Public Employees Association’s claims that divesting from BlackRock and State Street would cost the pension system approximately $10 million.

The motion states that, “perhaps most egregiously,” the act violates the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, which requires state-managed pension systems to operate for the “exclusive benefit” of their beneficiaries. It claims the Oklahoma state legislature attempted to “absolve the Treasurer and pension systems of their constitutional fiduciary duties” by saying they were exempt from any conflicting obligations with respect to making investments.

“It goes without saying that a statute cannot not trump the constitution, nor can a state statute contravene federal law,” the injunction states.

In a statement provided to CIO, Russ said, “The spirit and intention of the law is to protect Oklahomans and the economic base of the state. I will be happy to follow the legislature in the future.”

The injunction also argues that the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act is essentially the same as legislation passed in other states that prohibits businesses from contracting with the state if they boycott Israel, which it noted has been held as unconstitutional by five federal courts.