Investment Product and Service Launches

Art by Jackson Epstein

Wilmington Trust and Federated Offer CITs to DC Clients

Wilmington Trust and Federated Investors, Inc. have collaborated to provide collective investment trusts (CIT) for defined contribution (DC) plan clients.

The collaboration allows Wilmington Trust to broaden its product spectrum by offering the Federated High Yield Bond Collective Investment Fund and the Federated Prime Cash Collective Investment Fund, which will be the first prime cash vehicle from Wilmington Trust.  

CITs are pooled investment vehicles maintained by a bank or trust company exclusively for qualified retirement plans. They offer benefits similar to mutual funds, but at generally lower costs, making them an attractive option for plan sponsors to consider in carrying out their fiduciary responsibilities. CITs can also be tailored to fit unique investment goals and risk appetite, offering more innovative investment opportunities and customized options than before.

“Our collaboration with Federated marks another milestone for the CIT industry, and for our efforts as fiduciary trustee to deliver solutions that help clients meet their long-term goals,” says Rob Barnett, group vice president and head of Retirement Distribution at Wilmington Trust. “The modern-day CIT is not your grandfather’s investment fund and today offers scalability, flexibility, customizable options and transparency that empowers advisers, plan sponsors and participants to make fully informed decisions. We are on a mission to increase education among advisers and investors about the benefits of CITs and to advance the widespread adoption of CITs across the industry.”

Cohen & Steers Closes Real Estate Fund Share Classes

Cohen & Steers is closing its share classes of the Cohen & Steers Real Estate Securities Fund (Class A: CSEIX; Class C: CSCIX; Class I: CSDIX; Class R: CIRRX; Class Z: CSZIX; Class F: CREFX) to new investors, effective at the close of business on November 8. The fund will remain open to its current shareholders, participants in qualifying retirement plans, and existing intermediary-sponsored discretionary models.

As of August 31, the fund had assets under management of $6.0 billion and carried a five-star Morningstar rating. It ranked in the top decile of Morningstar’s U.S. Real Estate fund category for the five- and 10-year periods, and in the top quartile for the one- and three-year periods.

“Striving to deliver consistent outperformance is central to our competitive advantage and reputation,” says Joseph Harvey, Cohen & Steers president and chief investment officer. “The fund invests across the REIT market-capitalization spectrum and opportunistically invests in international real estate securities, real estate fixed income securities and options. Closing the fund to new investors should allow us to maintain an asset level that will preserve our ability to meet the fund’s investment objectives.”