By David G. Barry
The Ontario
Teachers’ Pension Plan’s venture capital and growth equity arm is getting a new
name and a new group of employees as it starts a significant expansion.
Launched three years ago, the Teachers’ Innovation Platform will now be known as
Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). The Toronto pension plan said the unit is
targeted to comprise 7% to 10% of its net assets over the next five to 10
years. That’s up from approximately 3% today.
As part of that growth, TVG plans to make a dozen hires over the next year and
open a new office in San Francisco. In addition to Toronto, TVG also has
offices in London and Hong Kong.
Since its first investment in SpaceX in June 2019, the unit has made 20 direct investments and
backed several venture funds. Its portfolio is valued at C$7.1 billion (US $5.68
billion) and includes such companies as Applyboard,
Epic Games, ComplyAdvantage, Kry, Tanium, Lendable, FTX Trading Ltd., and Pony.ai.
In a statement, Olivia
Steedman, TVG’s senior managing director, said, “we’ve built a strong and growing investment
department by rolling up our sleeves and helping mission-driven entrepreneurs
scale their business, expand their offerings, and become leaders in their
markets. We are excited to pursue our next phase of growth under our new name.”
TVG, which has had successive years of double-digit returns, invests across an array
of sectors, including fintech, enterprise software, logistics-tech and climate-tech.
Added Steedman, “As we move into our next stage of growth, we will look to
build on our existing strengths to support the ambitions of an even broader
group of visionary founders, and thereby expand the reach and impact of the
companies that are shaping the future for people and the planet.”
Ontario Teachers’ move is particularly significant because it comes at a time
when valuations of late-stage companies are declining amidst an IPO drought. It
also is notable because of the interest by some of the major U.S. public
pension plans in doing more direct investing. A case in point is the California
Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), which earlier this year named Nicole
Musicco as its chief investment officer.
Nicole joined CalPERS from RedBird Capital
Partners, but previously she spent 16
years with Ontario Teachers’.
One of the world’s largest pension plans, Ontario Teachers’ was valued at C$242
billion (US $193.8 billion) as of December 31. It has more than 350 investment professionals and invests
in more than 50 countries in everything from equities to real estate to
infrastructure and venture growth. The plan serves more than 330,000 current
and retired teachers in Ontario.
