Key Takeaways
- • Saar Pikar, head of venture and growth investments at OMERS, is departing to become president of Kensington Capital Partners Ltd., effective July 28, 2026, marking the third leadership change at OMERS Ventures in three years.
- • OMERS Ventures has experienced significant personnel turnover: Damien Steel departed in 2023, followed by Michael Yang in 2025, signaling potential structural challenges within the pension fund's venture capital strategy.
- • OMERS maintains approximately $1.5 billion in venture capital allocations (roughly one percent of its total portfolio), but the unit has faced material losses, including a nine-figure write-down on TouchBistro Inc., from which it recovered only $2 million of a $140 million initial investment.
- • The pension fund has strategically retreated from U.S. and U.K. venture markets due to competitive pressures and now focuses primarily on Canadian opportunities, reflecting a narrowed geographic scope in its venture strategy.
- • Pikar will report directly to Kensington Capital CEO Tom Kennedy and assume oversight of the firm's venture and growth portfolios, while OMERS indicated it expects to announce replacement leadership within weeks.
Summary
The departure of Saar Pikar from OMERS Ventures to assume the presidency of Toronto-based Kensington Capital Partners Ltd. represents the latest in a series of leadership transitions at the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System's venture capital division. Pikar assumes his new role on July 28, 2026, reporting directly to Kensington Capital CEO Tom Kennedy with responsibility for the firm's venture and growth investment portfolios. The move underscores ongoing instability within OMERS' venture capital operations, which has now cycled through three heads in three years following the 2023 departure of Damien Steel and the subsequent exit of Michael Yang in 2025.
The repeated leadership changes at OMERS Ventures warrant institutional scrutiny, particularly given the fund's documented performance challenges in venture capital deployment. OMERS allocates approximately $1.5 billion to venture investments—representing roughly one percent of its total portfolio—yet this allocation has generated significant losses. Most notably, the fund absorbed a nine-figure loss on TouchBistro Inc., a point-of-sale software company, recovering only $2 million from an initial $140 million investment. This represents a capital recovery rate below 2 percent and illustrates the operational and financial headwinds that have characterized the division's track record.
In response to competitive pressures and market realities, OMERS Ventures has undertaken a strategic geographic retrenchment. The fund has exited venture investments in the United States and United Kingdom, markets where it struggled to compete effectively against established venture capital competitors such as those concentrated in Silicon Valley. The revised strategy now focuses primarily on Canadian opportunities, effectively narrowing the geographic and market scope of the fund's venture exposure. Michael Block, OMERS' head of private capital, acknowledged Pikar's contributions to the Ventures & Growth division, noting his clarity of vision and relationship-building capabilities, though such praise does not reverse the unit's documented performance metrics.
The pension fund expects to announce replacement leadership for the OMERS Ventures division in the coming weeks, though the frequency of turnover raises questions for plan sponsors and institutional allocators regarding the structural viability of the fund's venture capital strategy and its ability to retain experienced investment professionals within a competitive talent market.
The repeated leadership changes at OMERS Ventures warrant institutional scrutiny, particularly given the fund's documented performance challenges in venture capital deployment. OMERS allocates approximately $1.5 billion to venture investments—representing roughly one percent of its total portfolio—yet this allocation has generated significant losses. Most notably, the fund absorbed a nine-figure loss on TouchBistro Inc., a point-of-sale software company, recovering only $2 million from an initial $140 million investment. This represents a capital recovery rate below 2 percent and illustrates the operational and financial headwinds that have characterized the division's track record.
In response to competitive pressures and market realities, OMERS Ventures has undertaken a strategic geographic retrenchment. The fund has exited venture investments in the United States and United Kingdom, markets where it struggled to compete effectively against established venture capital competitors such as those concentrated in Silicon Valley. The revised strategy now focuses primarily on Canadian opportunities, effectively narrowing the geographic and market scope of the fund's venture exposure. Michael Block, OMERS' head of private capital, acknowledged Pikar's contributions to the Ventures & Growth division, noting his clarity of vision and relationship-building capabilities, though such praise does not reverse the unit's documented performance metrics.
The pension fund expects to announce replacement leadership for the OMERS Ventures division in the coming weeks, though the frequency of turnover raises questions for plan sponsors and institutional allocators regarding the structural viability of the fund's venture capital strategy and its ability to retain experienced investment professionals within a competitive talent market.
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