# Cohen & Steers Select Preferred & Income Fund

Cohen & Steers Select Preferred & Income Fund is an Asset Manager based in New York, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** New York, NY, United States
- **Founded:** 2010
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** cohenandsteers.com

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Cohen & Steers launched the Select Preferred & Income Fund as a closed-end fund in 2010, building on the firm's longer history as a publicly traded asset manager specializing in real assets and alternative income. The vehicle is co-managed by William Scapell and Elaine Zaharis-Nikas, who run it alongside the firm's flagship open-end preferred securities strategy. The closed-end wrapper is the structural insight: it permits a level of credit concentration and illiquidity that daily-redemption funds must avoid. The fund targets high current income by investing at least 80% of its assets in preferred and other income securities. Holdings span institutional preferred stock, hybrid securities, contingent capital instruments, and, to a lesser extent, fixed-rate debt from issuers in financials, insurance, utilities, and real estate. The portfolio leans heavily into US-domiciled financial institutions — banks, insurers, and REITs — but has historically held paper from European and Asian issuers when credit spreads justify the move. Confirmed positions have included preferred issues from Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and MetLife, among others, alongside selected energy and telecom names when the team sees relative value. The fund employs leverage through a credit facility to enhance yield, a standard feature for closed-end preferred funds but one that magnifies both income and net-asset-value volatility. In March 2024, the fund maintained a managed distribution policy targeting a level monthly payout, reset periodically based on earnings and market conditions — a posture designed to appeal to income-oriented retail and institutional holders who prioritize predictable cash flows over NAV appreciation. The fund's structural advantage is its permanent-capital vehicle format. Unlike open-end mutual funds or ETFs that must meet redemptions by selling assets, the closed-end structure lets Scapell and Zaharis-Nikas sit through credit dislocations and buy when forced sellers appear. That illiquidity premium is the core of the strategy, and it is why the fund has historically traded at both premiums and discounts to NAV depending on rate and credit-cycle positioning.

## Sectors

- Preferred Securities
- Fixed Income
- Financials

## People

- William F. Scapell — Portfolio Manager
- Elaine Zaharis-Nikas — Portfolio Manager

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions for the Cohen & Steers Select Preferred & Income Fund?

The fund is co-managed by William F. Scapell and Elaine Zaharis-Nikas. Scapell joined Cohen & Steers in 2003 and heads the firm's preferred securities platform. Zaharis-Nikas has been with the firm since 2004 and works alongside him on both the closed-end fund and the open-end preferred strategies. Both managers share responsibility for credit selection and portfolio construction.

### How does the closed-end structure affect the fund's investment strategy?

The closed-end structure provides permanent capital — unlike open-end mutual funds, the managers are not forced to sell assets to meet redemptions during market stress. This allows them to hold less-liquid institutional preferred securities, maintain concentrated positions, and deploy leverage through a credit facility without worrying about shareholder flows. The trade-off is that the fund's shares can trade at premiums or discounts to net asset value.

### How does leverage factor into the strategy?

The fund employs leverage through a credit facility to increase the size of its income-earning asset base. This magnifies both yield and net-asset-value volatility. Leverage costs are tied to short-term interest rates, so the fund's net income spread is sensitive to Federal Reserve policy — a factor that can compress or widen the distribution coverage ratio over time.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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