OMERS Names Alexander Fraser as Private Equity Head

Alexander Fraser

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System on Thursday announced the appointment of Alexander Fraser as executive vice president and global head of private equity. Fraser, whose appointment is effective March 17, succeeds Michael Graham, who retired earlier this year.

Fraser will report to Ralph Berg, the CIO of OMERS.

“Alexander is a growth-focused leader, with deep experience in leading strong teams and building businesses, having had much success with top global firms,” Berg said in a statement. “This is an exciting time for private equity, and the current investment landscape offers new and diverse opportunities for growth. Under Alexander’s leadership, I am confident we will continue to build on the strong foundation of our private equity business.”

The C$138.2 billion ($95.87 billion) pension fund allocates 20% of its assets to private equity, as of December 31, 2024.

Want the latest institutional investment industry news and insights? Sign up for CIO newsletters. 

Fraser, based in San Francisco, was previously a founding partner in and head of the U.S. division at 65 Equity Partners, a private equity firm owned by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek. He was also partner in and co-head of tech at private equity firm Bridgepoint and spent 13 years at GI Partners.

Fraser earned a bachelor of arts degree from Colgate University and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

“I am excited to join OMERS Private Equity and work alongside a talented team of global investment professionals,” Fraser said in a statement. “I look forward to leveraging our collective expertise to drive growth, build lasting partnerships, and create long-term value for our portfolio companies while delivering results for nearly 640,000 OMERS members.”

Tags: Alexander Fraser, Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, Private Equity, Ralph Berg

Ben Meng

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has appointed Ben Meng, the former CIO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, as managing director and head of investment portfolio management, a spokesperson for CPP Investments told CIO.

Meng was CIO of CalPERS from January 2019 to August 2020. According to reports, Meng departed for failing to disclose ownership of shares in private equity firms that had business relationships with CalPERS.

After his stint as CIO of CalPERS, Meng was chairman of the Asia Pacific region, executive sponsor of sustainability and head of global private equity at Franklin Templeton. He previously had held a position as deputy CIO of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China’s $3 trillion foreign exchange reserve.

A spokesperson for Franklin Templeton said that Tariq Ahmad, the firm’s head of Asia Pacific, will continue to lead its business and strategy in the region.

Want the latest institutional investment industry news and insights? Sign up for CIO newsletters. 

As CIO of CalPERS, Meng was an advocate for greater corporate reporting on environmental, social and governance issues. He was named a winner in the ESG category at CIO’s 2019 Industry Innovation Awards.

Meng earned a master’s degree in financial engineering from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Davis.