UNITED STATES - Ohio Public Employees Retirement System is investing $250m (€187m) in local real estate investment opportunities as part of its so-called Grow Ohio programme.   The pension fund is following in the footsteps of California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the Florida State Board of Administration, which both have established similar investment programmes focusing on their home states.   Heitrman Capital Management and Fillmore Capital Partners will manage the newly allocated capital, although they will each embark on different investment strategies.   Both will have $125m to deploy but Heitman will seek to originate loans for real estate projects, while Fillmore will concentrate more on recapitalisation opportunities. Ohio PERS will set the investment guidelines for both firms.   Heitman has already closed on its first deal for Grow Ohio: a $15m construction loan to finance the development of a 416,344 square foot industrial warehouse facility in central Ohio.   The pension fund is aiming to achieve returns of 9% on the deal.   Ohio PERS is within its policy ranges for its real estate investments for its Defined Benefit Fund and Health Care Fund at the end of October.   It has invested in real estate 8.5% of its total plan assets in the Defined Benefit Fund and 6.4% in the Health Care Fund. The targeted allocation for real estate in these funds is 9% and 6%, respectively.   Ohio PERS has made commitments totaling $1.6bn in open-ended and close-ended commingled funds so far in 2010.   The largest of these were two $300m commitments to JP Morgan Strategic Property Fund and UBS Trumbull Property Fund.    

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