Cohen & Steers REIT & Preferred & Income Fund

Cohen & Steers REIT & Preferred & Income Fund

Cohen & Steers launched in 1986 as the first boutique dedicated exclusively to listed real estate securities. The firm went public in 2004 and now runs a range of vehicles spanning REITs, infrastructure, natural resource equities, and preferred securities. The REIT & Preferred & Income Fund (RNP), an exchange-listed closed-end fund that came to market in 2003, sits inside this broader franchise. It is managed by the same investment group that runs the firm's flagship strategies. The fund splits its portfolio between two income-producing sleeves. The REIT allocation spans listed equity REITs across industrial, residential, data-center, and retail property types, with a tilt toward property owners that generate durable cash flows. The preferred-securities sleeve positions in investment-grade and below-investment-grade preferreds issued by financial institutions, utilities, and REITs. The dual structure creates a blended distribution yield that historically exceeded what standalone REIT or preferred funds could produce. The fund also writes call options on a portion of its holdings to amplify current income, a strategy that trades upside participation for additional yield. Cohen & Steers reported approximately $80 billion in firmwide assets under management as of early 2024 (per the firm, March 2024). The closed-end fund structure imposes a fixed share count, which relieves the managers from having to raise or redeem cash in response to market flows — a structural advantage when underlying real estate or credit markets freeze. The fund has historically employed leverage to enhance returns, typically running 25%—30% of net assets in borrowings or preferred-share issuance. Joe Harvey has run Cohen & Steers as CEO since 2018; Jon Cheigh serves as CIO across the real estate and listed infrastructure portfolios. The structural differentiator is the combination of listed real estate with institutional preferred securities in a single registered vehicle, managed by a firm that operates at institutional scale in real estate securities but runs a comparatively niche preferred-book. Most peer closed-end funds specialize in one or the other. The leverage stack — borrowed money layered on top of equity, generating income on assets that themselves pay dividends and interest — produces a high distribution rate, but magnifies drawdowns when both asset classes decline simultaneously, as they did during the 2022 rate-hiking cycle.