Eric Plesman

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) owns Oxford Properties. On that OMERS leadership team — and in charge of commercial real estate investment strategy for it (and Oxford) — is Eric Plesman.

That strategy has to cover quite a bit of ground. Globally, Oxford and its platform companies had $63 billion in assets under management by late July, and was committed to more than 15 development projects. The Toronto-based firm’s footprint totaled 146.7 million square feet worldwide. 

The U.S., including Oxford’s credit business, accounts for about 40 percent of the company’s invested portfolio, according to company data. Canada accounts for roughly another third, and the rest is split between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. 

As for growing this global pie, Plesman said he and his team are casting a careful net via in-house information and talent.

“As we look ahead, while real estate is recovering, this isn’t a market where broad trends alone will drive returns,” Plesman, who has been in the top Oxford role since November 2025, said in a statement. “You can’t just buy the index; you need to be a stock picker. The winners will be those with the expertise and operational capabilities to identify opportunities asset by asset and market by market.”

Among the favored assets now are open-air retail and industrial, plus what he described as “high-quality office,” including Manhattan’s 70 Hudson Yards, the 1.4 million-square-foot office tower Oxford’s developing with Related Companies. 

The company is also leaning into its credit business, with Plesman calling it “a meaningful growth area for us.” 

“We’ve steadily built our book over the years, lending to a variety of sectors, and it provides a strong source of recurring income while complementing our broader real estate investment strategy,” he said. “Over the past few years, it was arguably the best risk-adjusted return globally and has just become much more competitive given the capital-raising around private credit.” 

Plesman, too, noted that his work has a personal dimension given the OMERS ownership. “My mom is an OMERS retiree, so it hits close to home, and she likes to grill me about our return!”