Ohio Police & Fire Is 3.35 Points Under Its Real Estate Target: A GP Playbook for Pitching an LP With Room to Fill

Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F), a $22 billion plan in Columbus, committed up to $100 million to the Jadian Evergreen Fund at its 30 September 2026 board meeting. The fund is an open-end, core-plus vehicle run by Stamford-based Jadian Capital that invests in industrial outdoor storage, land lease communities and industrial research and development facilities. The detail that matters for a GP is not the cheque. At 31 August the plan held $1.96 billion in real estate, 8.65% of assets, against a 12% target. This playbook is for the manager who wants to pitch an LP that has room to fill and is not sure how to use that fact.

What the numbers say

The gap is 3.35 percentage points. On a plan of roughly $22 billion that is about $750 million, which is our arithmetic from the reported figures, not a number the pension has published. The $100 million is therefore about 13% of the shortfall, and a commitment that size on its own leaves most of the gap open. A gap does not guarantee more commitments, because values of other holdings move the percentage as well. It does tell you the pension has a stated reason to keep looking at real estate, which is more than most LPs give a manager in a first meeting.

Step 1: Size the ask to the gap, not to your fund

Our advice is to work out where your fund fits inside a shortfall of roughly $750 million. A single manager is unlikely to be asked to fill all of it, and a pitch that proposes a ticket several times the size of the last commitment looks like it has not read the situation. The Jadian commitment of up to $100 million is a useful marker for a first cheque to an OP&F-type plan, though it is not a rule and it is a ceiling, not a final amount. Build your fund size and your minimum around a first ticket in that range.

Step 2: Match the vehicle to what they just bought

The pension chose an open-end, core-plus structure and niche property types. Our reading is that the plan is willing to back specialist strategies inside a vehicle that holds assets for the long term, not only the largest property sectors. If you run a closed-end, higher-return strategy, explain why it belongs next to the core-plus exposure instead of competing with it. If you run a niche strategy, name the property type in the first sentence and give the evidence that the niche is liquid enough to exit.

Step 3: Say how and when capital goes to work

A pension below its target wants the shortfall closed in a reasonable time. An open-end fund can usually put committed capital to work faster than a drawdown fund, which is our reasoning, not a statement from the plan. Show your deployment plan in months, the share of the portfolio already identified, and what you will do if deals take longer than planned. A clear pace is a stronger argument than a high headline return.

Step 4: Respect the process and the calendar

The commitment was approved at a 30 September board meeting and became public days later, so the decision was made before the news. The plan's general consultant, Wilshire, has briefed the board in preparation for a future asset-liability study, which is the review that sets the targets behind every commitment. Ask staff when the next board meeting falls, send materials through the route they prefer, and prepare a complete due diligence questionnaire and a diligence pack before you are asked for one.

Step 5: Have a view on what happens if the target moves

A 12% target is not fixed. If the asset-liability study changes it, or if the value of other holdings rises, the gap changes with it. Prepare two versions of your argument: one that works if the plan keeps filling toward 12%, and one that works if the plan holds its position. The contrast with a pension that is cutting back is useful, and we cover it in our playbook on working with an LP that is pacing down.

Where this sits among other pensions

OP&F is not the only public pension active in real estate this autumn. The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, a separate fund, allocated $800 million to three real estate debt vehicles, and New York State Common made two real estate commitments of up to $306.3 million. Both are pension funds with different targets and different reasons, which is why the gap arithmetic above has to be done plan by plan.

What to watch next

Watch OP&F's next board agenda for further real estate commitments, any sign that the asset-liability study is under way, and whether Jadian reports a close for the fund. FundLinx members can see which public pensions still have room to fill in real estate.

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