Cohen & Steers Opens Commodities Unit

Cohen & Steers, a global investment manager, is expanding its real assets investing with commodities research and investments. The four-member commodities team, all previous staffers at GE Asset Management, starts at the firm’s New York headquarters Monday, April 8.

Koutsoftas, senior vice president and portfolio manager, will co-lead the commodities team. He previously was senior vice president and co-portfolio manager at GE Asset Management, and head of the active commodities strategy since its 2006 inception.

Ross, senior vice president and portfolio manager, will co-lead with Koutsoftas. The two were co-portfolio managers of the GE Active Commodities strategy since its inception. Earlier, Ross was a senior trader at GE Asset Management, leading the international equity trading desk. Before joining GE, he worked at State Street Bank & Trust.

Sanderson joins Cohen & Steers as a research analyst covering commodities. He was previously a research analyst with GE Asset Management. Before that, Sanderson held research and investment banking roles with RBC Capital Markets, Longbow Research and KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Butler joins Cohen & Steers as vice president and portfolio specialist. Her knowledge of the commodities markets and the investment process enables her to serve as an important member of the commodities team with a focus on business development and client service. Before her 14 years with GE Asset Management, she was with Bank of New York and UBS.

According to Robert Steers, co-chairman and co-chief executive of Cohen & Steers, the team comes at a time when “secular trends in real asset classes are driving some of the most exciting opportunities in the marketplace.”

Cohen & Steers’ focus is specialty asset classes, including real estate securities, listed infrastructure, real assets, preferred securities, large-cap value equities and alternative strategies. More information is available at cohenandsteers.com.