Updated:
Cohen & Steers
Cohen & Steers was founded in 1986 by Robert H. Steers and Martin Cohen, who together established the firm as a pioneer in publicly-traded real estate...
Cohen & Steers
Cohen & Steers was founded in 1986 by Robert H. Steers and Martin Cohen, who together established the firm as a pioneer in publicly-traded real estate investing. The firm's origins trace to a time when REITs were emerging as an institutional asset class, and Cohen & Steers helped define the sector's modern investment framework. Today, the firm is publicly traded (NYSE: CNS) and operates as a global investment manager. The firm's investment strategy centers on real assets with income-generating characteristics, spanning real estate securities, listed infrastructure, natural resources, and master limited partnerships. Cohen & Steers manages separate accounts, open-end mutual funds, closed-end funds, and ETF offerings. Major clients include pension funds, endowments, foundations, and insurance companies in North America, Europe, and Asia. The firm's approach emphasizes bottom-up security selection and macroeconomic analysis. Cohen & Steers maintains offices in New York (headquarters), Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Toronto, and Tokyo, employing over 200 professionals as of recent filings. The firm is publicly-traded on the NYSE under ticker CNS, and has a market capitalization of several billion dollars. In June 2024, the firm announced a strategic partnership with a European wealth manager to expand its distribution capabilities (per the firm, June 2024). The Cohen & Steers Foundation, a philanthropic vehicle, supports charitable initiatives focused on the arts and education. A structural differentiator is Cohen & Steers' singular focus on real assets and its long tenure as a specialist manager, which has built deep sector expertise. Unlike diversified asset managers, the firm does not venture outside real estate and infrastructure, providing institutional allocators with a pure-play exposure. The firm's publicly-traded structure provides alignment incentives but also subjects it to market volatility.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1986
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Additional offices
Toronto, Canada · Conshohocken, PA, United States · Tokyo, Japan
Principals
Robert H. Steers
Co-Founder and Chairman
Martin Cohen
Co-Founder and former Chairman
Joseph M. Harvey
CEO and CIO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Cohen & Steers?
Joseph M. Harvey serves as CEO and CIO, overseeing the firm's investment strategy. He has been with Cohen & Steers for several decades. The firm's investment decisions are made by a centralized committee of portfolio managers specializing in real estate, infrastructure, and natural resource sectors.
How does Cohen & Steers source proprietary deal flow?
Cohen & Steers does not make direct real estate investments; it invests solely in publicly-traded securities, including REITs, infrastructure equities, and MLPs. Deal flow comes from public market offerings, corporate actions, and in-depth fundamental research on listed companies.
Is Cohen & Steers structured as a family office or an asset manager?
Cohen & Steers is a publicly-traded asset management firm (NYSE: CNS), not a family office. It operates as a registered investment adviser focused on institutional and retail clients. The firm was co-founded by Robert H. Steers and Martin Cohen, who were not representing a single family's wealth.
Does Cohen & Steers participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Cohen & Steers offers a range of pooled investment vehicles, including open-end mutual funds, closed-end funds, and ETFs, as well as separately managed accounts. The firm does not typically commit capital as a fund-of-funds or co-invest in private transactions. It focuses on liquid real asset securities.
What investment stages does Cohen & Steers typically target?
Cohen & Steers invests primarily in publicly-traded real estate and infrastructure securities, which are late-stage public market instruments. The firm does not invest in venture capital or private equity stages. Its exposure is to companies that are already publicly listed and generating income.
Which sectors does Cohen & Steers explicitly avoid?
Cohen & Steers does not invest in unlisted real estate, private equity, venture capital, or any non-real-asset sectors. The firm explicitly avoids private credit, hedge funds, and operating businesses. Its mandate is limited to listed real assets: REITs, infrastructure, natural resources, and MLPs.
Where does the underlying wealth come from that Cohen & Steers manages?
Cohen & Steers manages assets from institutional clients such as pension funds, endowments, foundations, and insurance companies, as well as retail investors through mutual funds and ETFs. The firm does not manage the wealth of a single family or individual; it is a multi-client investment manager.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on registered investment advisers?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: