Goldman Sachs Asset Management Announces Partnership With Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System

Goldman Sachs will partner with the Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System, one of Canada’s largest defined benefits pension plans to invest in private credit across the Asia pacific market.  

The partnership will utilize a separately managed account in which OMERS will co-invest in private credit opportunities in APAC alongside Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The partnership will be managed by GSAMs Asia private credit business, a part of the global private credit business unit. OMERS declined to comment further. No specific commitment from OMERS was specified.  

“We are incredibly excited to partner with OMERS and its Global Credit team on the Asia Credit focused Partnership. We see significant demand in the region by companies and sponsors alike, with this mandate we will continue to invest in new opportunities seeking bespoke credit solutions. We believe our differentiated approach through sourcing and our dedicated on-the-ground presence allows us to position ourselves to best identify investment opportunities that drive attractive risk-adjusted returns,” said James Reynolds, Goldman Sachs Asset Management global co-head of private credit, in a statement.  

The partnership will deploy funds to companies and global and regional sponsors throughout the APAC region, investing primarily in the senior direct lending space. There is also flexibility for the partnership to invest in mezzanine financing and hybrid securities.  

“Private credit remains an attractive area within the credit space globally, and the expansion of our existing relationship with Goldman Sachs into Asia will position us well to further unlock these opportunities. Asia is a growth region for OMERS, and we look forward to working alongside Goldman Sachs to achieve our long-term targets as well as participate in the growth of the direct lending markets in Asia, “said Kal Patel, executive vice president and head of global credit at OMERS, in the statement. 

OMERS managed C$127.4 billion ($94.39 billion) as of June 30. OMERS allocates 18% of its portfolio to the credit asset class.   

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has $100 billion in private credit assets under management, with $55 billion allocated to senior direct lending, $26 billion to mezzanine debt, and $17 billion to hybrid capital as of March 31, 2023, the asset manager reports. In total, GSAM has invested more than $170 billion in private credit over the last 25 years. Goldman Sachs has invested in the APAC region, including Australia, New Zealand, India, Southeast Asia, China, Korea and Japan, since 1998. The partnership with OMERS will be the first external capital raised for an APAC focused partnership for Goldman Sachs Alternatives.