CBRE Clarion Securities today announced the launch of the CBRE Clarion Long/Short Fund (the Fund) effective 3 January, 2012. The new Fund will draw upon CBRE Clarion’s many years of experience managing private long/short hedge funds since 2000.
T Ritson Ferguson (pictured), CEO of CBRE Clarion Securities and co-portfolio manager of the Fund, says: "In this fund, we are delighted to offer our original hedge fund strategy, which has delivered attractive total returns during the last 11 years with low volatility due to the strategy’s historical ability to provide downside protection in difficult markets."
The new Fund will be managed by CBRE Clarion Securities, which is one of the world’s largest real estate securities managers and oversees approximately USD19 billion in domestic and international assets. The firm has managed long-only separate accounts since 1984, long-only mutual funds since 1997, and long/short strategies since 2000. T Ritson Ferguson, CFA, Steven D Burton, CFA, and Joseph P Smith, CFA are the primary portfolio managers for the Fund. Individually, the portfolio managers each have over 20 years of investment experience and have worked together for approximately 15 years managing investment portfolios.
The team will leverage its long history of managing long-only mutual funds together with its eleven years of experience in managing long/short funds to deliver a long/short mutual fund with daily liquidity.
The Fund will seek to provide attractive total returns while attempting to preserve capital and mitigate risk by employing long and short positions in equity securities of companies that are principally engaged in the real estate industry. "The Fund seeks to generate attractive total returns regardless of market direction. This approach allows us flexibility to pursue opportunities with conviction while attempting to mitigate market risk through hedging," says Smith, co-CIO and portfolio manager. This fund may be appropriate within an allocation to alternative investments where investors are looking to enhance the risk/return profile of their overall portfolio through additional diversification and control of volatility.
CBRE Clarion Securities will initially be offering two classes of shares for the Fund: Investor (CLSVX) and Institutional (CLSIX). There are no sales charges associated with the Fund and CBRE Clarion Securities has agreed to cap the fund’s expenses for the benefit of investors.
