Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE: CNS)

Cohen & Steers, Inc. is a global investment manager specializing in real assets and alternative income, including listed and private real estate, preferred securities, infrastructure, resource equities, commodities, and multi-strategy solutions. Headquartered in New York City, the firm operates through offices in London, Dublin, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore, serving institutional and individual investors worldwide. The company manages assets across open-end funds, institutional accounts, and closed-end funds, offering investment advisory services tailored to client objectives.

Cohen & Steers generates revenue primarily through investment advisory, administration, distribution, and service fees from the investment vehicles it manages. Revenue from the wealth channel comes from fees on open-end and closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other commingled vehicles. Revenue from the institutional channel is derived from fees for managing advised and subadvised institutional accounts. Fees are based on contractually specified rates applied to assets under management and may include performance-based components in certain cases.

Cohen & Steers operates through the following segments:

• Listed Real Estate: This segment focuses on equity and debt securities of real estate companies, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and similar entities, to provide exposure to U. S. and international listed real estate. Strategies within this segment are distinguished by geography, concentration, risk profile, and income objective, aiming for total return, capital appreciation, or income. The segment leverages the expertise of an integrated global real estate securities investment team.

• Private Real Estate: This segment invests directly in real property assets, with strategies targeting stabilized, income-producing properties in the United States as well as opportunistic investments involving value-added activities such as lease-up, redevelopment, and development. Investment objectives include stable cash flow, capital appreciation, income, and total return. The segment serves clients seeking direct exposure to physical real estate assets through private investment structures.

• Preferred Securities: This segment invests in diversified portfolios of preferred, debt, and contingent convertible securities issued by U. S. and non-U. S. companies, primarily from financial institutions such as banks, insurers, REITs, and utility and energy firms. Both total return and low duration strategies are offered, emphasizing income and capital preservation. The segment applies a consistent investment process across its strategies to manage risk and enhance yield.

• Global Listed Infrastructure: This segment provides access to infrastructure assets through equity and debt securities of companies involved in utilities, pipelines, toll roads, airports, railroads, marine ports, and communications, as well as energy-related master limited partnerships. Strategies are designed to deliver total return with a balance of capital appreciation and income, focusing on assets deriving significant revenue from energy exploration, production, transportation, processing, storage, refining, distribution, or marketing. The segment operates in both developed and emerging markets.

• Global Natural Resource Equities: This segment invests in companies engaged in the production, extraction, or processing of commodities and natural resources, including energy producers, mining firms, and agriculture-based businesses. The investment objective is total return, capturing growth and income from resource-related enterprises. The segment benefits from fundamental analysis to identify value and manage exposure to commodity price cycles.

• Real Assets Multi-Strategy: This segment combines exposure to listed real estate, global infrastructure, commodity futures, and natural resource equities in a diversified portfolio. The strategy aims to deliver attractive long-term total returns while enhancing diversification and providing inflation-resistant returns through ownership of tangible real assets. It allows for customization based on client-specific objectives, benchmarks, or risk profiles, and may incorporate other niche strategies as needed.

Cohen & Steers competes with other global and U. S. investment managers, commercial banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies, and financial institutions offering similar real asset and alternative income strategies. Its competitive advantages stem from specialized expertise in niche asset classes, strong long-term performance, and a focused product platform that appeals to investors seeking diversification and inflation protection. The firm differentiates itself through its deep research capabilities, proprietary investment models, and consistent application of fundamental analysis across its strategies.

Cohen & Steers serves a global client base distributed across two primary channels: wealth and institutional. The wealth channel includes global private banks, U. S. wirehouses, independent and regional broker-dealers, bank trusts, registered investment advisers, and discretionary portfolio managers using global custody or clearing platforms. The institutional channel comprises sovereign wealth funds, public and private pension and retirement plans, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and global investment consultants who advise these institutions on asset allocation and manager selection.