Ken Sweet of the Associated Press reports regional banks' bad loans spark concerns on Wall Street:

Wall Street is concerned about the health of the nation’s regional banks, after a few of them wrote off bad loans to commercial customers in the last two weeks and caused investors to wonder if there might be more bad news to come.

Zions Bank, Western Alliance Bank and the investment bank Jefferies surprised investors by disclosing various bad investments on their books, sending their stocks falling sharply this week. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon added to the unease when he warned there might be more problems to come for banks with potentially bad loans.

“When you see one cockroach, there are probably more,” Dimon told investors and reporters on Tuesday, when JPMorgan reported its results.

The KBW Bank Index, a basket of banks tracked by investors, is down 7% this month.

There were other signs of distress. Data from the Federal Reserve shows that banks tapped the central bank’s overnight “repo” facilities for the second night in a row, an action banks have not needed to take since the Covid-19 pandemic. This facility allows banks to convert highly liquid securities like mortgage bonds and treasuries into cash to help fund their short-term cash shortfalls.

Zions Bancorp shares sank Thursday after the bank wrote off $50 million in commercial and industrial loans, while Western Alliance fell after the bank alleged it had been defrauded by an entity known as Cantor Group V LLC. This came on top of news from Jefferies, which told investors it was might experience millions of dollars in losses from its business with bankrupt auto parts company First Brands.

All three stocks recovered a bit Friday. Jefferies' CEO told investors that the company believes it was defrauded by First Brands and there were no broader concerns in the lending market.

The last banking flare up, in 2023, also involved mid-sized and regional banks that were overly exposed to low-interest loans and commercial real estate. The crisis caused Silicon Valley Bank to fail, followed by Signature Bank, and led to the eventual sale of First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase in a fire sale. Other banks like Zions and Western Alliance ended up seeing their stocks plummet during that time period.

While banks do fail or get bought at fire sale prices, all bank deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, up to $250,000 per account, in case a of a bank failure. In the nearly 100 years since the FDIC was created in 1933, not one depositor has lost their insured funds.

Still, even the larger banks aren't immune in this latest round of trouble. Several Wall Street banks disclosed losses this week in the bankruptcy of Tricolor, a subprime auto dealership company that collapsed last month. Fifth Third Bank, a larger regional bank, recorded a $178 million loss from Tricolor’s bankruptcy.

That said, the big banks believe that any losses will be manageable and do not reflect the broader economy.

“There is no deterioration, we’re very confident with our credit portfolio,” Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said, in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Friday.

While the big Wall Street banks get most of the media and investor attention, regional banks are a major part of the economy, lending to small-to-medium sized businesses and acting as major lenders for commercial real estate developers. There are more than 120 banks with between $10 billion and $200 billion in assets, according to the FDIC.

While big, these banks can run into trouble because their businesses are not as diverse as the Wall Street money center banks. They’re often more exposed to real estate and industrial loans, and don’t have significant businesses in credit cards and payment processing that can be revenue generators when lending goes south.

Emma Ockerman of Yahoo Finance also reports auto loan delinquencies are soaring, with consumers hit by high car prices:

American consumers are struggling under the weight of soaring auto loan debt.

Auto delinquencies are up more than 50% since 2010 and have transitioned from the safest to riskiest consumer commercial credit product in that time frame, according to a Friday report from VantageScore.

Here’s why: record-breaking car prices, higher maintenance and insurance costs, and elevated interest rates. Longer term loans are also to blame.

“The bigger picture: the auto market is a bellwether for household financial health,” the report says. “A sustained climb in auto delinquencies signals deeper affordability challenges across the consumer economy.”

The country is seeing “the most precarious consumer credit health situation since the last financial crisis,” said VantageScore Chief Economist Rikard Bandebo.

“More and more people are struggling to make ends meet,” Bandebo added.

Delinquencies among other loan categories, like credit cards and first mortgages, have declined since the first quarter of 2010, making autos a bit of an outlier, VantageScore said.

High car prices are a big culprit. The average transaction price of a new vehicle floated above $50,000 in September for the first time, likely pushed higher by luxury models and pricey electric vehicles, according to estimates from Kelley Blue Book.

Meanwhile, data released this week from Edmunds, a car shopping website, showed drivers are increasingly underwater when trading in older models for new cars, meaning their original vehicles are worth less than the amount still owed. Drivers carried more than $10,000 worth of debt in almost a quarter of upside-down trade-ins during the third quarter, for example.

Overall, Americans are carrying more than $1.66 trillion in auto debt, with borrowers tumbling into “delinquencies and defaults at a pace that exceeds pre-pandemic levels and rivals the years immediately preceding the 2008 economic crisis,” a report from the Consumer Federation of America said last month.

“We have people that are financing their car loan over eight years, which is something that we hadn’t seen since the Great Recession,” Erin Witte, the director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America, told Yahoo Finance. “Of course, when you’re extending that financing out, you’re paying more and more. And if you trade that car in before the loan term is over, you’re probably going to owe money on it, which is another cascading problem: You’re paying interest twice — it makes the next car more expensive.”

Car repossessions are also up, and the stock market is on edge after the bankruptcies of the subprime auto lender Tricolor and auto parts maker First Brands, with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon saying that "when you see one cockroach, there's probably more."

Michael Brisson, auto economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the rise in delinquencies can also be traced back to auto lenders loosening their credit standards at a time when credit scores were already broadly increasing — thanks to pandemic-era stimulus and relief programs — while car prices were ticking higher. Some consumers looked healthier than they were.

Add to this Goldman Sachs Group President John Waldron said there’s been an explosion in the growth of credit over the past decade — and that the fallout if things go south won’t be pretty.

Waldron (featured above) was quoted on CNBC as saying there isn't a private credit and public credit market, they're all related and interconnected. 

Well, DUH! If the private credit market which isn't regulated suffers a massive crisis, high yield credit spreads in public markets will blow up. Guaranteed.

In another "DUH!" moment, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated when it comes to credit woes,  "when you see one cockroach, there are probably more."

Many eons ago, I worked with a great guy called Matthew Pugsley at BCA who told me back then: "A bad earnings report is like a cockroach, if you see one, others will follow." 

More often than not, that is definitely the case.

As far as this week's credit woes, well, some of it is old news and some of it just confirms the US economy is slowing.

For example, auto loan delinquencies. People are losing their job and can't make payments on their car or insurance. Cars are most expensive, for sure, because of new chips that are needed to run them and that doesn't help.

America is still a tale of two economies -- the ultra rich partying in Miami, and the restless masses trying to make ends meet.

Private credit is just like any other credit,  when the economy stalls, defaults go up and if your underwriting is shoddy, guess what, you're exposed to massive losses.

As I stated recently, there are cracks in the AI and private credit bubbles. 

It doesn't mean a crisis lies straight ahead, it means there will be more negative surprises as the economy slows and markets adjust to a potential inflation boomerang.

But with the Fed cutting rates and massive fiscal stimulus coming, it feels more like 1998 than 2008.

No wonder gold futures eased on Friday but were still on pace to notch their biggest weekly gain since 2020 in a stunning rally. 

I don't get spooked by big headlines, most of which are manufactured headlines from Wall Street that wants to control the narrative.

Late Friday afternoon, the markets have all recovered nicely with exception of the Russell 2000 which remains negative.

In two weeks, President Trump will meet with his Chinese counterpart in South Korea, expect a big announcement (Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is in Malaysia next week to prepare).

We are just beginning earnings season and so far things look great with the big US banks reporting stellar numbers. 

Also, if there is a big credit crisis looming, high yield bonds would be selling off hard and they keep on rising higher:

All this to say this week there were a lot of headlines scaring algos and investors alike but there's no real tangible evidence of a looming credit crisis, at least not yet. 

Yes, we will undoubtedly hear of more private credit blowups as the US economy slows but it's still way too early to call this a systemic problem like we saw in 2008.

Anyway, here are this week's top performing and worst performing US large cap stocks (full list available here):

 

Below, Bryn Talkington, Managing Partner of Requisite Capital Management, joins CNBC's "Halftime Report" to explain why she's buying two private credit names amidst concerns in the space. The Investment Committee debate how to the risks in private credit stocks.

Next, Adam Parker, Trivariate Research founder, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss Parker's thoughts on the credit environment, what could go wrong with capital expenditures and much more.

Third, Tom Lee, Fundstrat, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss his take on the latest news affecting markets and why he thinks private credit woes will not change tailwinds.

Lastly, Tudor Investment Corporation's Paul Tudor Jones tells Bloomberg's Matthew Miller that if AI is a bubble, it's a historically small one. He sees concentration risk everywhere and expects to find the NASDAQ substantially higher by the end of the year.

Last week, Gillian Brown, Chief Investment Officer, Public & Private Investments, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan discussed the organization's approach to global markets, risk management and positioning for long-term growth with Bloomberg's Derek DeCloet at the 2025 Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York. 

Take the time to watch the clip below as she runs through her thoughts on private and public markets and where Teacher's is focusing its attention on and where it's not.

A lot of the stuff I covered with Gillian when we last spoke here along with CEO Jo Taylor and and CIO of Asset Allocation, Stephen McLennan. 

For example, Gillian shared this with me on private markets:

On the private asset side which is where we make the distinction in the mid-year around the performance of public markets versus private markets, the private assets were a pretty flat contributor to the portfolio this year. 

Year-to-date, clearly not what we'd like to see out of some of those asset classes. And I think it's a continuation of the story I've been telling, if I think about private equity, we've been saying it has been a very important  long-term contributor over to total fund results. We know that the industry is one in transition, that the economic environment is different than the one that created the heyday of private equity, so we need to be mindful of that in thinking about what those forward looking returns can be. 

And making sure we are thinking about our portfolio with our Portfolio Solutions group, leaning into the assets, driving the returns we want out of those assets. But on a prospective basis, how much do we want in private versus public markets, how much do we want in our internal active management programs versus what we may give to an external fund manager where we think they have competencies we may not have in those specialty focused areas.

I think it's similar to some of the issues we would have discussed a year ago at this time, just that those markets are transitioning to a different macro and political environment and private markets takes more time to adjust to some of those changes versus public markets where more quick adjustments.

Gillian had this to say on long-term value creation: “I think the question is, how do you generate returns out of private assets? For us that means focusing on the operating-company-level results.”

She basically explains how rates reset after the pandemic and why financial engineering is dead in private equity, you need a long-term value creation plan and you need to be on the deal teams from the get-go. 

She also explains why their expected returns for private equity has come down in a post-Covid world.

She also discusses why Teachers' decided to internalize international real estate because that wasn't Cadillac Fairview's "edge", it was more operating domestic office and retail properties.

Some of the more interesting remarks were on public markets where she admits OTPP and other funds cannot beat the S&P 500 especially in these markets but they still have conviction they can add excess returns in private markets over a cycle.

She also admits they lean on their external hedge fund managers to deliver some alpha over their beta exposure in public markets.

This goes back to the Ron Mock days when he told me: "beta is cheap, we can swap into any beta exposure for a few basis points and add alpha over that using external alpha providers that provide alpha we cannot generate internally."

To make a long story short, Teachers' invests roughly 10% of its assets in external hedge funds using a portable alpha structure and they try to generate T-bills + 300 bps (used to be T-bills + 500 bps). 

She discusses how they got into private credit back in 2020 during the early days of Covid using funds initially but they've been doing it for a long time but never bucketed it as an asset class.  

Lastly, she admits valuations in private markets are extended but "overheated stocks can become more overheated." They prefer playing the AI theme through private markets like electricity transmission or other AI related themes.

Anyway, take the time to listen to Gillian explain it all, she shares quite a bit and is an excellent communicator going through how they approach private and public markets. 

Florence Chong of IPE Real reports BCI eyes ‘transaction-rich’ Europe for growth:

Canadian pension fund BCI aims to substantially increase the share of European assets in its infrastructure portfolio, as it continues to look abroad for expansion.

British Columbia Investment Management (BCI) is likely to increase its infrastructure investment in Europe by 50% over the next five years, in line with its broader strategy to grow its overall infrastructure portfolio by 60% by 2030.

BCI sees Europe as “a transaction-rich environment” with many nameplate infrastructure assets available for acquisition. It aims to increase the share of European assets to between 25% and 30% of its infrastructure portfolio – up from 21% today.

The firm set the stage for this European expansion with the opening of its London office in 2023. The office, which currently has 10 staff members, is expected to grow as BCI continues to build its investment footprint in the region.

BCI manages the investments of a number of public-sector pension and insurance funds in British Columbia. “As their long-term targets for the asset class continue to increase, we anticipate remaining a very active investor in the market,” says Jerry Divoky, senior managing director of infrastructure and renewable resources at BCI.

Divoky notes that, historically, BCI’s infrastructure programme has delivered strong returns with relatively low risk – it has been designed to deliver stable performance through different market cycles and events.

BCI’s C$32.2bn (€19.8bn) infrastructure portfolio has delivered an approximate 5% yield. “Half of our return over the last decade has effectively come from yield, and the other half from capital appreciation,” Divoky explains. “Significant capital comes back to us as yield, which we can then redeploy.”

The portfolio is primarily comprised of regulated utilities – including gas, power and water – which account for 40% of assets. Renewable resources such as timber and agriculture comprise 20%. Transportation and GDP-sensitive assets and renewable energy each account for 10%, digital/telecommunications 5%, and the balance is allocated to other assets.

At 5%, BCI’s exposure to digital infrastructure remains modest compared with some of its peers. Divoky says: “The anchor in our portfolio has always been core infrastructure – regulated utilities or highly contracted assets. Even though this space has become more competitive, we remain interested.”

Even so, BCI sees strong potential in digital infrastructure. “We remain focused on digital infrastructure opportunities, as many investors are. It is a sector with strong thematic tailwinds,” Divoky says. So far, BCI has mainly participated in digital through the debt markets. 

Opportunistic approach 

BCI has a wide investment scope and acquires assets opportunistically. In June, it bought a minority stake in Pinnacle Towers, the largest telecom tower platform in the Philippines, from KKR. The acquisition bolstered BCI’s existing telecom tower investment in Altius in partnership with Brookfield. “India is experiencing a tremendous expansion in data and telecommunications,” Divoky says.

Altius combines telecom tower and related infrastructure assets previously held by Summit Digitel, Crest Digitel, and American Tower Corporation’s Indian operations. The latter was acquired last September, giving the partners ownership of 257,000 telecom sites, making it the largest tower portfolio in India and the largest platform globally outside of China.

Divoky also highlights that a repricing in the renewable power sector is creating attractive new investment opportunities that are in focus in North America as well as Europe.

In June, BCI and Macquarie Asset Management acquired Renewi, a European industrial waste recycling business, in a deal valued at £707m (€816m).

“Waste is an area we’ve found quite attractive over the years,” Divoky says. “We just hadn’t found the right kind of business until now. Renewi focuses on commercial and industrial waste and holds a commanding position in Belgium and the Netherlands.”

BCI generally pursues a buy-and-hold strategy but will occasionally make strategic exits. One such divestment was its sale of US assets owned by Global Container Terminals (CGT). “We didn’t feel we could manage terminals on both coasts of the US effectively or generate significant synergies,” says Divoky. BCI, which co-owns GCT with IFM Investors and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is now focused on terminals in Vancouver.

Regarding trade tensions, Divoky remains unfazed: “So far, we’ve experienced strong trade volumes. Negotiations are ongoing and will eventually settle. If there is any shift in trade-related infrastructure, it will happen over decades.”

Already, 90% of BCI’s infrastructure assets are located outside of Canada. Given the limited size of the domestic market, Divoky expects international assets to remain the main driver of growth. 

Privatisation potential 

There is, however, a potential shift on the horizon. Under the Liberal government led by Mark Carney, Canada is exploring private capital participation in infrastructure to address budgetary challenges.

“But investable opportunities in Canada for large-scale brownfield operating infrastructure are relatively modest,” Divoky says. “We hope that changes going forward. Canada’s Federal Government and Provinces still own airports and most utilities. There’s tremendous potential for the government to privatise these assets, realise capital, and reinvest in greenfield projects that support GDP growth.”

Divoky adds that BCI has deployed capital effectively in the US over the years. “We’re still very interested in the US market, but with the current geopolitical climate, we’re being a bit more cautious,” he says.

“We’d also like to deploy more capital in Australia but, as with Canada, quality opportunities are scarce. Beyond that, India has tremendous promise,” he says. Significantly, it is another market where BCI has on-the-ground representation. So far, the Philippines is the other market where it has invested.

Approximately 10% of the firm’s infrastructure portfolio is in Latin America, but political instability has prompted BCI to exercise “caution” on new investments.

Asked whether global geopolitical tensions have impeded investment, Divoky says that the opposite is the case: “The uncertainty is creating pricing opportunities. Assets aren’t being priced for perfection. We’re mindful of geopolitics, political risks and the potential for populism when deploying capital.”

With a growing global pool of capital targeting infrastructure, Divoky acknowledges that competition is fierce. BCI seeks opportunities in both public and private markets.

“We’ve recognised over the years that competition for private assets has intensified. So we’ve enhanced our ability to find value in listed markets,” he says.

Most recently, BCI led the £1bn take-private of Luxembourg-based BBGI Global Infrastructure. “It’s the first major take-private transaction fully led by the BCI infrastructure team. It’s groundbreaking,” Divoky says.

“We felt BBGI would continue to diversify our global portfolio.” BBGI holds more than 50 infrastructure companies and projects across sectors and geographies.

BCI has previously taken over a public timber company, now part of its Mosaic timber business. Divoky believes BCI will continue to seek opportunities to privatise listed infrastructure companies when the timing and value are right.

Great interview with Jerry Divoky, senior managing director of infrastructure and renewable resources at BCI.

He will most likely become the next head of infrastructure and renewable resources at BCI when Lincoln Webb steps down or assumes another important role at the organization (he's a strong contender to succeed Gordon Fyfe as CEO but there are others).

BCI posted this article on its website with a lag as it was published September 25th and I'm glad they did so (take note rest of Maple 8). 

Jerry Divoky provides a lot of great insights on the portfolio composition and strategy.

You can read more about BCI's infrastructure & renewable resources portfolio here:  

BCI’s Infrastructure & Renewable Resources (I&RR) program is a diversified portfolio of $32.2 billion of tangible, real assets. Our global program invests primarily in core infrastructure assets that operate in stable regulatory environments and renewable resources assets that are critical to meeting the demands of a growing global population.

We target privately held assets with high barriers to entry, potential for strong cash flows, and favourable risk-return characteristics. Our focus on meaningful positions with governance rights allows us to actively manage the investments with a view to increasing their long-term value. The typical anticipated holding period spans over 20 years. We also invest in publicly listed infrastructure and private infrastructure debt to complement our current holdings and deliver additional value to clients.

And read fiscal 2025 highlights here.

What struck me from the interview is that BCI's digital infrastructure exposure is modest compared to peers but they remain on the lookout for opportunities there.

Interestingly, they're not competing with giants that have entered the space bidding on private assets, they're also very skilful at taking listed infrastructure companies private to use them as a platform (look at the take private deal on BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A.).  

Why do this? Why not? If there's value there, that's a smart move instead of bidding up prized assets that everyone is chasing.

Remember, just like in real estate and private equity, entry price matters a lot even if you're holding these assets for a long time.

What else? The portfolio is primarily comprised of regulated utilities – including gas, power and water – which account for 40% of assets.Yield plays an important role here just like a retail investor who invests in utilities to collect a nice yield and redeploys the dividend interest in other opportunities:

“Half of our return over the last decade has effectively come from yield, and the other half from capital appreciation,” Divoky explains. “Significant capital comes back to us as yield, which we can then redeploy.” 

In general, BCI holds these assets for years but sometimes makes strategic exits when the price is right and there are reasons to divest:

One such divestment was its sale of US assets owned by Global Container Terminals (CGT). “We didn’t feel we could manage terminals on both coasts of the US effectively or generate significant synergies,” says Divoky. BCI, which co-owns GCT with IFM Investors and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is now focused on terminals in Vancouver. 

As far as investable opportunities in Canada, they're hopeful but also explicit in what they're looking for:

“But investable opportunities in Canada for large-scale brownfield operating infrastructure are relatively modest,” Divoky says. “We hope that changes going forward. Canada’s Federal Government and Provinces still own airports and most utilities. There’s tremendous potential for the government to privatise these assets, realise capital, and reinvest in greenfield projects that support GDP growth.” 

I've been saying this forever, privatize airports, ports, toll roads, pipelines and other important infrastructure and get on with it fast because time is of the essence.

I agree with BCI's  European focus over the next five years, that's where the best opportunities lie.

Alright, let me stop there, you can read the latest news from BCI here. 

Below, Sikander Rashid, Brookfield's Global Head of AI Infrastructure, sat down with Bloomberg in Paris to discuss AI and the US market vs European market. 

Listen to his comments on why they remain bullish on Europe as it still "needs trillions of capital to upgrade existing infrastructure and build new infrastructure for AI."

Freschia Gonzales reports OMERS finds opportunity where the sun never sets on its investments:

OMERS’ global diversification strategy stands out as a defining feature for institutional investors seeking stability and growth in today’s uncertain markets. 

Brandon Weening, executive vice president, Corporate & Capital Markets Finance at OMERS, shared insights into the Canadian public pension fund’s investment priorities during a discussion with Bloomberg’s Chunzi Xu at the 2025 Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York.  

The conversation highlighted OMERS’ approach to bond issuance, currency strategy, and sustainable investing, all of which are shaping the fund’s long-term performance. 

OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans and a member of the Maple Eight, manages about $140bn in assets for approximately 600,000 municipal employees in Ontario.  

The plan’s investment portfolio is truly global: about 20 percent of assets are in Canada, half in the US, 15 percent to 20 percent in Europe, with the remainder in Australia and other regions.  

This global balance sheet, backed by a AAA rating, provides investors with exposure to a diverse range of markets and asset classes. 

The fund’s bond issuance strategy is designed to enhance returns by borrowing at a AAA rate and investing at a long-term return of about seven percent, capturing the spread through a lower cost of capital.  

OMERS issues debt primarily in US dollars, euros, and Australian dollars, aligning with where its investment teams find the most attractive opportunities.  

The programmatic approach in US dollars includes a benchmark issuance every spring, typically in the three to five year range, while euro and Australian dollar issuances occur less frequently. 

OMERS’ approach to currency management is rooted in maintaining a natural hedge.  

The fund keeps debt in the same currencies as its investments, reducing risk and supporting global deployment.  

Canadian dollars are not a primary focus for new issuance, as the plan already receives contributions, cash inflows, and liquidity in Canadian dollars, and leverage is capped at 10 percent of net assets. 

Investor sentiment, according to Weening, is increasingly focused on certainty.  

While OMERS cannot provide certainty in the markets, it offers a AAA rating and a fair spread, along with the reassurance of a globally diversified balance sheet.  

Investors have shown appreciation for the diversity and stability OMERS brings to its Term Note program. 

When selecting banking partners for overseas fundraising, OMERS prioritizes those with strong investor relations capabilities, primary market expertise, and robust secondary market performance.  

Canadian banks are always considered first, but must demonstrate these capabilities to earn a mandate. 

All major Canadian banks have participated in OMERS’ mandates over the past six years. 

Sustainable investing remains a key area of interest.  

OMERS maintains a sustainable bond framework and reports annually on its sustainable bonds, last issued in 2022.  

While investor conversations have shifted from labelled bonds to broader sustainable investing practices, OMERS continues to update its framework and policies to reflect evolving expectations. 

The fund is also prepared to issue in British pounds if compelling opportunities arise, and maintains a presence in Asia through Australian and US dollar issuances.  

Decisions on whether to issue debt at the plan or company level depend on leverage limits and specific investment needs, with a $5bn commercial paper program complementing fixed-rate funding. 

OMERS’ hedging strategy for term notes has evolved, with occasional hedging of rate exposure to optimize the overall portfolio as the allocation to fixed income increases.  

Treasury and portfolio management teams make these decisions based on current market conditions. 

Collaboration among the Maple Eight pension funds is characterized as collegial but independent. 

OMERS describes itself as a fast follower, learning from peers’ experiences while maintaining its own objectives and parameters.  

The fund’s disciplined, globally diversified approach continues to position it as a leader in the Canadian pension landscape.  

Last week, Brandon Weening, Executive Vice President, Corporate & Capital Markets Finance, OMERS spoke with Bloomberg's Chunzi Xu at the 2025 Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York.

The key points are summarized above:

• OMERS is a global investor 
• When it invests in the US, Australia or Europe, it will issue debt in those currencies to make the investments.
• They can issue debt because they have a AAA rating and strong balance sheet, allowing them to lower their cost of capital and make full use of their capital structure to invest in infrastructure, real estate and private credit (all the Maple 8 funds do this)
• Issuing debt in foreign denominated currencies does introduce currency risk which they manage through active hedging programs when warranted.

As Brandon explains their debt issuance program in mainly in the US, Europe and Australia where they invest and have assets. They keep in those currencies to deploy and achieve a natural hedge. 

He said they limit their leverage to 10% of the plan's net assets so they do not issue debt in Canadian dollars as they have a lot of domestic assets. 

Anyway, take the time to listen to Brandon below, it's a short discussion but he explains everything very clearly. 

In related news, OMERS issued a press release stating it has achieved a milestone in Canadian infrastructure financing with Bruce Power:

October 14, 2025 – OMERS Infrastructure is pleased to announce that BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust (BGIT), the holding company for OMERS investment in Bruce Power, has completed its inaugural senior unsecured bond issuance totaling C$1.5 billion across 5, 7, and 10-year tranches of notes. This transaction represents the largest domestic holding company bond issuance to date within the Canadian power and utilities sector.

Michael Hill, Executive Vice President and Global Head of OMERS Infrastructure, said: “This transaction marks a milestone in Canadian infrastructure financing. The scale, pricing, and investor engagement in this process reflects the high quality and underlying strength of the Bruce Power investment and the caliber of our outstanding team. Through this process, we have now built a scalable platform to access, and further collaborate with, Canadian debt capital markets. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you to Bruce Power’s leadership team for support throughout this process.”

OMERS has proudly been directly invested in Bruce Power, located in OMERS home province of Ontario, since 2003. Over more than two decades, the OMERS team has collaborated with the management team to deliver the company’s vision and support its growth. Bruce Power currently produces approximately 6,550 megawatts of peak clean energy, representing about 30% of Ontario’s electricity.

Brandon actually discussed Bruce Power (around minute 9) which OMERS owns 48% of. 

Given this is an incredible asset, the biggest power supplier in Ontario, I'm not surprised demand for these bonds was extremely strong. 

Alright, let me wrap it up there.

Below, Brandon Weening, Executive Vice President, Corporate & Capital Markets Finance, OMERS discusses the Canadian public pension fund's investment priorities with Bloomberg's Chunzi Xu at the 2025 Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York.