Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF) has approved a $200m (€165m) investment to create a co-investment with Harrison Street Real Estate Partners to invest in US life sciences assets.

According to the Oregon State Treasury, all of the HS-OR Life Science Partners vehicle’s equity is being provided by the pension fund.

Anthony Breault, senior real estate investment officer for the Oregon State Treasury, said: “This type of investment structure will allow us to access the property through a very strong manager in the space without creating any undue stress on our staff.”

Breault said there is strong demand for the property type from tenants who prefer to be in major cluster markets like San Francisco, Boston/Cambridge, North Carolina, Seattle and San Diego.

“The tenants in these properties need to have their employees in the office as the lab work really can’t be accomplished in a home working environment.”

The co-investment will engage in opportunities across the risk spectrum.

Oregon PERF has also made a $150m commitment to Harrison Street Real Estate Partners VIII, an opportunity fund seeking to raise $2bn.

The fund, which targets 14% to 16% internal rate of returns, invests in a mixture of US life science, self-storage, senior and student housing assets.

Harrison Street declined a request for comment.

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