Ohio Public Employees clocks positive return in Q4 2020

Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS), the largest public pension system in Ohio, has recorded an 11.35 percent return for its defined benefit plan as of Dec. 31, 2020.

According to a January board meeting packet, OPERS’ investment board noted the COVID-19 pandemic caused a real estate market correction that has varied greatly by sector and geography. The pension fund reported mixed performance for its real assets allocation in the third quarter of 2020, putting most sectors in the red. In private core real estate, returns were a modest 0.48 percent gross in the third quarter, according to the NCREIF Fund Index – ODCE.

During the same period, however, publicly traded REITs were up 1.4 percent, according to the FTSE Nareit Composite REIT Index.

“We expect this correction and resulting volatility in performance to continue into 2021,” wrote the investment board. “Su