The Cohen & Steers European Real Estate Securities portfolio holds REITs and other publicly traded real estate companies located in the U.K. and continental Europe. The portfolio managers, Joe Houlihan and Gerios Rovers, have an average of 22 years of investment experience dedicated to real estate securities investment management.

Objective
Cohen & Steers European Real Estate Securities strategy seeks to maximize total return with a balance of capital appreciation and current income by investing in real estate securities located in the U.K. and continental Europe.

Investment approach
Cohen & Steers employs an integrated, relative value investment process. A proprietary valuation model ranks European real estate securities on price-to-net asset value ("NAV"), which we believe is the primary determinant of real estate security valuation, and guides a bottom-up portfolio construction process. Analysts incorporate both quantitative and qualitative analysis in their NAV estimates. The company research process includes an evaluation of management, strategy, property quality, financial strength and corporate structure. In addition to the NAV model, our professionals use secondary valuation tools including cash flow multiple/growth or discounted cash flow models. Judgments with respect to risk control, diversification, liquidity and other factors overlay the model's output and drive the portfolio managers' investment decisions. A more detailed review of our process follows.


Our team conducts detailed research on each company in our universe, including regular management visits, property tours and financial modeling. To generate the NAV estimates, we use macro economic assumptions that are consistently applied across the region and conduct fundamental research, which focuses on management, the company's business plan, company structure, balance sheet and the real estate portfolio. We input our NAV estimates into an integrated valuation model that ranks European real estate securities on their price to NAV. The model is used to determine relative valuations of individual securities and to select target weights. In addition to the research-intensive NAV model, we use complementary valuation metrics including multiple/cash flow growth and DCF. Weightings are subsequently fine-tuned by taking into account the stock's free float and liquidity.

Portfolio characteristics
The Cohen & Steers European Real Estate Securities strategy invests in real estate securities diversified across the U.K and continental Europe and across property sectors.