School Employees Retirement System of Ohio (SERS) has made three secondary investments in three core and core-plus open-ended property funds, at a time when many other institutional investors are withdrawing capital from such vehicles.

The pension fund disclosed in a board document that it has invested $21.1m (€19.5m) to acquire the limited partnership positions in the Clarion Lion Industrial Trust, the Clarion Lion Properties Fund and the PGIM Real Estate-managed PRISA.

Industry sources described Ohio SERS’s decision to invest in open-ended core and core-plus US funds at a time when other pension funds were redeeming from funds as a contrarian move.

The pension fund said it has placed $15m, via its real assets portfolio, into GIP Co-Invest III Core Fund Vantage Towers, a Global Infrastructure Partners-managed fund that invests in telecommunication towers in Europe.

Ohio SERS also said it made a $10m co-investment for a 2% stake in the GI Partners Elk Grove Data center located in the greater Chicago marketplace.

It also made another $10m co-investment in the GIP CAPS II Lackawanna Power Plant, a natural gas power plant located in Jessup, Pennsylvania.

To read the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.