Michael Yang exits as OMERS Ventures shifts capital strategy and narrows its focus to Canadian investments
OMERS Ventures has laid off several members of its US investment team, including its most senior venture capital leader, as it redirects focus toward Canada.
Michael Yang, who had led the venture arm’s North American efforts since 2023, exited the firm this week.
His departure follows a wave of staff reductions that have brought the total headcount to 12, down from 19 in June, as reported by The Logic.
The move comes amid a slowdown in global tech investing and increasing pressure for Canadian pension funds to prioritise domestic markets.
OMERS Ventures confirmed it is maintaining a presence in Silicon Valley but plans to “increase our focus on the Canadian market,” according to Amanda Ashford, the firm’s head of marketing.
In an emailed statement, Ashford said OMERS Ventures will continue “to pursue selective opportunities in the US through direct investments and strategic partnerships.”
Yang’s layoff marks the fourth from OMERS Ventures’ Bay Area team since last month.
Three members of the operations team have also departed.
According to The Logic, half of the firm’s investment team is now based in the Bay Area, down from two-thirds just a month ago.
Ashford said the fund was the first Canadian pension plan to invest directly in early-stage technology and has maintained years of leadership in the space.
“We are confident that this evolution of our strategy allows us to channel our resources where we can deliver the greatest value to portfolio companies and our members,” he stated.
Leadership at OMERS Ventures is also shifting.
According to The Logic, growth equity managing director Saar Pikar will now oversee the venture capital team, while Laura Lenz has been promoted from partner to managing director.
The structural changes follow a broader reorganisation in September, when OMERS integrated the previously independent venture arm into a new Private Capital group.
Yang originally joined OMERS Ventures in 2019 to launch its Palo Alto office, after serving as managing director at Comcast Ventures.
He was promoted in August 2023 to head the firm’s global venture capital platform, becoming the first leader based outside Canada since OMERS Ventures’ inception in 2011, as reported by Benefits and Pensions Monitor.
His appointment followed the departure of former head Damien Steel, who became CEO of Deep Sky, a carbon-capture startup in OMERS Ventures’ portfolio.
Steel continues to serve on Hopper’s board—another OMERS-backed company—and remains a senior adviser to OMERS Ventures.
Addressing questions around governance, OMERS global head of private equity Michael Graham told The Globe and Mail that Steel “is fully aware how to be a board member and where his obligations lie,” and added that he had no concerns about governance-related issues.
OMERS spokesperson Vanessa Naughton confirmed to Pensions & Investments that Deep Sky holds the organisation’s endorsement.
The strategy realignment follows broader market trends. Like other Canadian pension funds, OMERS joined the pandemic-era surge in tech investment.
But high interest rates, inflation, and economic uncertainty have since driven startup valuations lower and pushed investors to the sidelines.
PitchBook data shows OMERS Ventures participated in just six deals in 2024 and 11 in 2023, compared to 29 in 2022 and 22 in 2021.
The firm has not yet launched its fifth fund, which it originally planned to do in 2023.
OMERS Ventures’ retreat from the US comes after its 2023 exit from Europe, when it closed its London office four years after it opened.
The firm said the decision was intended to narrow its geographic focus to North America, The Logic reported.
The pullback mirrors other pension fund moves. CPP Investments announced in May it would close its San Francisco office by year-end.
As reported by The Logic, Canada’s eight largest pension funds have taken part in just six venture capital deals worth a combined US$900m as of mid-2025—down sharply from 73 deals worth US$23.3bn in 2021.
Their commitments to other VC funds have also fallen, from 35 in 2022 to nine in 2024, and just two so far this year.
In December, the federal government proposed $1bn in new funding for the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative to encourage institutional participation with more favourable matching terms.
Whether that plan proceeds under the new government remains uncertain.
During his tenure, Steel grew the OMERS Ventures platform threefold to $2.5bn.
OMERS reported $127.4bn in total net assets as of June 30.
