Cohen & Steers starts property hedge fund business

It is the first time that Cohen & Steers, the US-based property share fund manager which has $30bn (£15bn) in assets under management, has been able to ‘go short’ on property shares.

This means that during times of increased stock market volatility, such as that witnessed in the UK for the past few months, the company will be able to hedge its bets by selling shares in a company short, which means it would profit if the price of the shares dropped.

Trading places

It has recruited Todd Voigt from LA-based firm Cliffwood Partners, where he ran the absolute return real estate securities hedge fund and worked on the 120/20 real estate securities hedge fund. Such funds have a strategy of having 20% of the shares they own in short positions.

‘We are seeing increased demand from our clients and real estate securities investors for hedged real estate strategies that can consistently generate superior risk-adjusted returns,’ Martin Cohen, co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of Cohen & Steers, said. ‘A long/short portfolio management capability will broaden our initiatives in the alternative investment area, and will allow us to capitalize on diverse and increasing investment opportunities in the global real estate securities markets.’