With over 45 years of experience in investment, law, and pensions, both in Canada and globally, Jacques is Chairman and Co-Founder of AGAWA PARTNERS. In June 2023, he completed four years chairing the York University Investment Committee and Pension Fund Board. He is Treasurer and a director of the World Ocean Council, a business alliance for the sustainable stewardship of the world’s oceans. An active investor since 1987 (an initial investor in Cashway and Porter Airlines, and in 2021 an early-stage investor in start-up now, one of the largest providers of social prescribing software services to GP Surgeries in the UK healthcare sector, among others) he served (2008-2015) as a Senior Executive of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) and CEO of OMERS Strategic Investments, where he managed $3.5 billion of private assets and led a number of innovative, strategic investment initiatives, including the USD$12.6 billion Global Strategic Investment Alliance infrastructure fund, OMERS Ventures program and Airports Worldwide (now part of Vinci Airports).
Prior to that, he co-founded one of Canada’s most respected business law practices (now continuing within a large multinational firm) and pioneered several “first-of-a-kind” corporate and project financings and infrastructure-related investments in North America and abroad representing banks and financial institutions, project developers and sponsors, pension funds and governments. Jacques serves as Honorary Solicitor of The Royal Canadian Military Institute, as Chairman of a private family foundation and as counsel at CONSILIUM COUNSEL DROIT•SOLUTIONS. Following studies in economics, history and philosophy at McGill University, Jacques studied law at Université Laval (LLB’76).
Service: Canadian Grenadier Guards (Montreal) primary reserve (infantry).
