Ontario Teachers’ Goes on Spending Spree in Education, Food, Workforce Technologies

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board has led a series of funding rounds into education, food, and human capital technology firms, the investor disclosed this week.

Earlier this week, the Canadian allocator said it invested in talent operation system Beamery, plant-based food company Motif FoodWorks, and online education firm ApplyBoard.

On Thursday, Ontario Teachers’ led a $138 million Series C funding round into workforce technology firm Beamery through its Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP) initiative. The internal program invests in late-stage venture and growth equity investments.

Beamery uses artificial intelligence (AI) to sort through and identify candidates for hire. Last year, the firm reported that revenue shot up 337% in the fourth quarter. The firm has filled 1 million job postings for a number of notable clients, including AstraZeneca, Autodesk, Nasdaq, and Workday.

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On Wednesday, Ontario Teachers’, through TIP, jointly led a $226 million Series B funding round into food company Motif FoodWorks, along with funds managed by BlackRock. Other firms joining the two included AiiM Partners, Wittington Ventures, Rethink Food, Rage Capital, and Rellevant Partners.

The Boston-headquartered Motif, which spun out of Ginkgo Bioworks in 2019, will expand research and development into plant-based food technologies. It has also secured licensing partnerships to create plant-based cheeses with improved melting and stretching capabilities, as well as healthier fats that can marbleize plant-based meats.

On Tuesday, Ontario Teachers’, through TIP, led a C$375 million (US$300 million) funding round into ApplyBoard. The Series D funding round was joined by existing investors Fidelity Management & Research Company, BDC, Harmonic, Index Ventures, Garage Capital, and Blue Cloud Ventures.

ApplyBoard will support international students with products and services that will help admissions officers and immigration officials track English test scores, letters of acceptance, and other documents. The firm was started in 2015 by Iranian international students Martin, Meti, and Massi Basiri, who are also brothers.

The C$221.2 billion Ontario Teachers’ manages about 80% of its diversified portfolio in-house. Since its founding in 1990, the plan has earned a 9.6% annualized return. Last year, it earned 8.6%, falling short of its 10.7% benchmark.

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Tags: ApplyBoard, Beamery, Motif FoodWorks, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Pandemic

It was only a matter of time, but cryptocurrency investments are now available in 401(k) retirement plans.

ForUsAll, a retirement investment platform that focuses on small businesses, has launched Alt 401(k), a retirement investment platform that allows employers to provide alternative investment options within their retirement plans. As the plan’s first alternative investment, ForUsAll is providing employers the option to offer cryptocurrency by selecting cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Institutional.

The platform provides employers with the choice to include cryptocurrency via a self-directed alt window inside their 401(k) plans, where participants can invest in more than 50 cryptocurrencies along with the rest of their investment lineup. The firm acknowledges that cryptocurrency has the potential to be risky and volatile, so the investments are capped at 5% of a participant’s portfolio. ForUsAll says it also closely monitors allocations and alerts employees when their overall cryptocurrency allocation exceeds 5% of their portfolio so they can rebalance into more traditional mutual funds.

“Without access to these portfolio building blocks and expert help to prudently use these asset classes, the average American may be at a structural disadvantage,” David Ramirez, co-founder and chief investment officer of ForUsAll, said in a statement. “Alternative investments, including small allocations to cryptocurrency, can help improve portfolio diversification and expected returns. However, the volatility and the complexity of these asset classes make prudent education and advice for employees essential.”

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The company touts tax efficiency as an added benefit to including cryptocurrency in a 401(k) plan, saying the cryptocurrency purchases would be treated like other investments in the plan for tax purposes, and any gains would be tax-deferred until they are withdrawn from the 401(k). The firm adds that the gains could even be tax-free forever with a Roth account, and notes that investors would not incur taxes when they sell cryptocurrencies to rebalance their portfolio after significant gain.

Diversification is another advantage cryptocurrency can offer, according to ForUsAll, which says a relatively small allocation may increase expected return without increasing the level of overall expected risk. It also said the growing interest in cryptocurrencies, particularly among younger employees, may help more participants engage more in their retirement plans and save more as a result.

“For too long, too many Americans haven’t had the same access to alternative investments that wealthy and professional investors have had,” Jeff Schulte, CEO of ForUsAll, said in a statement. “By introducing the Alt 401(k), we are democratizing access to what drives wealth for the wealthy.”