Stoking the Fire? Ontario Teachers Could Add to Hedge Fund Allocation

TORONTO (HedgeWorld.com)–Long considered leaders in investment management, officials at the C$75.7 billion (US$56.2 billion) Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are considering adding as much as US$300 million to the plan’s hedge fund portfolio, according to published reports.

Ronald Mock, vice president of alternative investments at the Ontario Teachers’ plan, told Bloomberg at the Global Alternative Investment Management conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, that fund officials were looking for more “unique” investment opportunities. He also said that the performance of some hedge fund strategies might suffer as more institutional investors allocate to the asset class and as managers face increasing difficulty deploying that capital.

Deborah Hannah, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, said fund officials do not generally comment on their alternative investment strategies and that Mr. Mock would not comment beyond the Bloomberg story. She did say Mr. Mock indicated the Bloomberg story was accurate.

Ontario Teachers’ currently has about US$3.5 billion in hedge fund strategies with about 130 managers.