GLOBAL - The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) is conducting due diligence on a $200m (€143m) commitment to Credit Suisse's Strategic Partners V Real Estate fund.

The fund strategy, which will see it buying interests in existing funds on the global secondary market, is expected to allow for a leveraged rate of return as high as 20%.

Credit Suisse predicts it will be able to raise $450m, with the fund being viewed as a follow up to its Strategic Partners V, in which the managers allocated 5% of assets for buying interests in other real estate funds.

OPERS has yet to commit to the $200m, but said it would be made for its defined benefit scheme.

The pension fund had a private market real estate portfolio valued $4.5bn at the end of June, with assets invested in three areas: $2.5bn in separate accounts/co-investments, $1.2bn in open-ended funds and $761m in closed-end funds.

OPERS currently invests 8.8% of its $54.7bn assets in real estate, just shy of its 10% target, with the internally managed public real estate portfolio accounting for 0.8%, or $460m.

Topics