Cohen & Steers has launched the Cohen & Steers Active Commodities Strategy Fund, an open-end mutual fund invested in commodities futures.
The fund is managed by Cohen & Steers' four-member commodities research and investment team, co-led by Nicholas Koutsoftas and Benjamin Ross.
The team employs an active, fundamentally based approach in a long-biased strategy, which they have been managing for a broad range of investors for eight years.
Starting with fundamental analysis of each commodity, the team builds fully collateralised portfolios that are enhanced through the use of spread positions, which involve the simultaneous buying and selling of two related commodities.
The performance of the fund will be benchmarked to the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total Return.
Robert Steers, chief executive officer, says: "The launch of this fund marks the next step in our long-term vision for Cohen & Steers, as a preeminent provider of liquid real assets solutions. Over the past two decades, we have been carefully building out a comprehensive line-up of strategies across multiple platforms that serve a broad base of institutional and individual investors. Today, our core capabilities expand well beyond the firm's deep roots in real estate to include commodities, listed infrastructure and MLPs. We believe that the complementary investment characteristics of these real assets provide an ideal combination for investors seeking diversification beyond broad equities and fixed income – and a potential hedge against long-term inflation."
The fund is available in four share classes: Class A – CDFAX; Class C – CDFCX; Class I – CDFIX; and Class Z – CDFZX.
