Digital Infrastructure
The strategy seeks to generate capital appreciation by investing in companies that we believe facilitate or benefit from the exponential growth of data usage and the evolution of the digital infrastructure ecosystem.
WHY COHEN & STEERS
Experienced global investment team
Our investment team is one of the largest dedicated to listed infrastructure investing, with leadership that has overseen our infrastructure investing since 2004
First-mover advantage
Development of new investment strategies focused on the digital infrastructure ecosystem
Industry access
Global investment teams provide on the ground access to companies and assets
WHY DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Access to the next generation of infrastructure
Companies that we believe facilitate or benefit from the secular trend of exponential growth of data usage and the evolution of the digital infrastructure ecosystem
Concentrated portfolio and approach
Designed to minimize overlap with commonly held technology names
Multi-sector exposure
Targets a balance of larger secular winners and smaller, less well-known companies that can drive alpha across three segments: infrastructure, hardware and software
The growth and importance of data in societies and economies has continued to increase as digital solutions are adopted by consumers. Businesses rely more heavily on data to make decisions and differentiate themselves. A growing number of data points are continuously generated and require a variety of industries to facilitate transfer and usability. This puts the owners, operators and developers of digital infrastructure assets in a unique position.
The Cohen & Steers Digital Infrastructure Strategy employs a total-return, relative-value approach to investing in global listed infrastructure. The strategy invests in companies that we believe facilitate or benefit from the exponential growth of data usage and the evolution of the digital infrastructure ecosystem. The strategy accesses the growing demand for digital infrastructure across three different segments: infrastructure, hardware and software. The strategy seeks to generate capital appreciation over an entire business cycle.
Our portfolio managers are able to draw upon digital experts across both our listed real estate and infrastructure teams. These experienced resources are dedicated to analyzing infrastructure, real estate, and digital asset securities.
FEATURED INSIGHT
Essential assets: The case for listed infrastructure
Investors’ search for diversification and inflation protection has put a spotlight on infrastructure, made brighter by massive public investment programs and the accelerating transition to a digitized, decarbonized economy.
November 2021 | 1 min
WHY INVEST WITH US
Delivering value to our clients
Cohen & Steers has been investing in listed infrastructure since we launched our flagship Global Listed Infrastructure Strategy in 2004. Based on our commitment to global listed infrastructure and our drive for excellence, we have built a platform positioned to outperform our peers and deliver compelling returns for our clients.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
An experienced team
+1 analyst
PORTFOLIO SPECIALIST GROUP
Supporting our investment team and clients
As data has become irreplaceable for societies and critical drivers for many companies’ growth, the evolution of the digital ecosystem is now a powerful secular trend, and we believe there is a multiyear growth opportunity within digital infrastructure.
Digital transformations are positively affecting many industries
which creates a diversified investment universe to capitalize on the trend.
We believe a broad exposure to the entire data value chain
allows for tactical allocation while remaining exposed to the theme of digitalization.
The strategy could help broaden an existing infrastructure allocation
or a thematic allocation to increase exposure to this long-term secular trend.
APPROACH
Our investment process
The strategy’s process is intended to create a concentrated portfolio of companies that derive significant revenues from the digital infrastructure ecosystem.
Investment universe
Our core investment universe includes owner/operators of the large-scale infrastructure, physical hardware, and digital software assets that create, and derive significant revenues from, the digital infrastructure ecosystem. We eliminate illiquid securities and companies that do not have the secular/cyclical characteristics we seek.
Fundamental research
Analysts are responsible for conducting detailed bottom-up research, developing high-conviction views on fundamentals and valuations on the companies they cover. We continually reassess management’s capabilities to add value and deliver on its goals. In addition, we integrate ESG factors into our research and valuation models.
Subsector analysis
The team assesses global investment cycles, product cycles, and economic cycles for investment opportunities and evaluates trends at the subsector level. We use a proprietary sub-sector allocation framework and a multi factor ranking model to screen subsectors based on both a fundamental and valuation basis.
Portfolio construction
After we have determined subsector positioning, outputs from security-level models quantify relative value within each subsector. As valuations change, we rotate capital among individual securities. Risk management, diversification, liquidity and other factors are also key considerations.
Market developments at Credit Suisse
The government-backed deal for UBS to acquire Credit Suisse will trigger a complete write-down of the nominal value of all Credit Suisse additional tier 1 bonds. We believe Credit Suisse is most likely to be an isolated incident, while we have been reducing our portfolios’ exposure to Credit Suisse significantly over the past several months.
Addressing developments at regional banks
The U.S. government's actions to minimize risk across the banking industry following the events of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have strong potential to prevent further bank runs and subsequent bank failures. But scrutiny of some regional banks will persist.
Citywire Selector: Fed insider-turned-bond boss backs central banks to beat inflation
March 2023 | 1 minHead of Fixed Income and Preferred Securities Bill Scapell spoke with Citywire Selector about Cohen & Steers’ preferred securities strategy and his fixed income outlook as central banks battle inflation.
The preferred securities asset allocation advantage
Preferreds offer long-term return potential superior to investment-grade and comparable to high-yield bonds, with diversification and quality advantages.
Institutional Investor: Competition Is Fierce for Private Infrastructure Deals. Here’s An Alternative
February 2023 | 1 minPortfolio Manager Tyler Rosenlicht spoke with Institutional Investor for a feature story on our recent infrastructure thought leadership and why listed infrastructure can be an attractive alternative or complement to private infrastructure in a portfolio.
Five reasons to consider preferred securities if you own municipal bonds
With many investors feeling the sting of taxes, municipal bonds aren’t the only option for tax-advantaged income. Preferred securities currently offer among the highest after-tax yields in fixed income, regardless of tax bracket.
Need to contact us?
We’d be happy to answer questions about our investment solutions or any corporate-related inquiries.
We consider the information in this communication to be accurate, but we do not represent that it is complete or should be relied upon as the sole source of suitability for investment. Investors should consult their own investment professional with respect to their individual circumstances.
Past performance does not predict future returns. Risks involved with investment, including potential loss of capital, are substantial and should be carefully considered. The views and opinions are as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee that any historical trend illustrated above will be repeated in the future, and there is no way to predict precisely when such a trend will begin. There is no guarantee that a market forecast made above will be realized. Active management is not guaranteed to outperform the broader market index.
Important Risk Considerations: Investing involves risk, including entire loss of capital invested. There can be no assurance that the investment strategy will meet its investment objectives. Diversification is not guaranteed to ensure a profit or protect against loss. Since the strategy concentrates its assets in digital infrastructure securities, the strategy will be more susceptible to adverse economic or regulatory occurrences affecting digital infrastructure companies than a portfolio that is not primarily invested in digital infrastructure companies. Infrastructure issuers may be subject to regulation by various governmental authorities and may also be affected by governmental regulation of rates charged to customers, operational or other mishaps, tariffs and changes in tax laws, regulatory policies and accounting standards. Foreign securities involve special risks, including currency fluctuation and lower liquidity.