The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is losing another senior employee from its vast team.
Jon McCarthy, formerly a private equity managing partner at the Canadian pension fund, stepped down this week, a source familiar with the matter confirmed Friday.
This comes on the heels of news that Mike Woollatt, who was serving as the director of strategic partnerships at OMERS, left the pension fund after just five months for a role at Hamilton Lane.
McCarthy joined OMERS in 2007, his LinkedIn profile shows. While at OMERS, McCarthy served as a director on three boards. These include CBI Health Group, Caliber Collision Centers, and Forefront Dermatology.
The source said that McCarthy’s next steps are unknown, but speculated that he could go on to start his own firm. OMERS declined to comment on the news.
McCarthy wouldn’t be the first to leave OMERS and strike out on his own. William Coughlin, a former private equity managing director, resigned in 2018 to start Alchemy Capital, a private investment firm focused on small- to mid-cap investments in the industrials and business services sectors, according to LinkedIn and the firm’s website.
Longtime OMERS technology investor Lisa Melchior left her role as managing director in 2016 to start Vertu Capital, a late-stage technology investment firm, as per LinkedIn and her firm’s website. Melchior, Coughlin, and McCarthy did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The pension fund has also added senior staff of late. In late March, its venture capital arm OMERS Ventures announced that it was launching a €300 million fund to invest in Europe and had hired Harry Briggs from BGF Ventures as managing partner.
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