Columbia Threadneedle Investments today announced the expansion of its exchange-traded fund (ETF) suite with the launch of the Columbia Research Enhanced Real Estate ETF (NYSE Arca: CRED). Designed for investors seeking a thoughtfully constructed and accessible way to gain exposure to the real estate sector, the strategy incorporates the firm’s research intensity and proprietary insights in real estate in a cost-effective vehicle.
“Real estate has long played an important role in portfolio diversification, and there are many ways to access the asset class across the liquidity spectrum,” said Marc Zeitoun, Head of Strategic Beta. “With the launch of CRED, we are offering investors and allocators a differentiated, research-driven way to improve their benchmark exposures to real estate.”
CRED, which tracks a custom, proprietary index, is designed to outperform the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index through research-driven security selection and modified market cap weighting that emphasizes income and geographic opportunity. This weighting approach directly addresses financial advisor preferences towards real estate investing expressed in a recent Columbia Threadneedle Investments survey, which found that income diversification and generation were among the top three reasons why financial advisors allocate to real estate. In terms of advisor due diligence, the survey also found that 9-in-10 of financial advisors consider underlying geographic exposure when investing in Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) strategies.
Managed by Christopher Lo and Henry Hom, portfolio managers in Columbia Threadneedle’s Managed and Indexed Portfolio Solutions team, CRED is designed to serve as a core allocation to the U.S. real estate sector in an investment portfolio. The ETF will track the firm’s proprietary Beta Advantage® Lionstone Research Enhanced REIT Index, which typically consists of 70-90 REITs weighted across eight sectors, including Specialized, Industrial, Diversified, Hotel & Resort, Residential, Retail, Office, and Health Care REITs. This custom index represents the first collaboration on a strategic beta solution between Columbia Threadneedle Investments and its institutional real estate investment subsidiary, Lionstone Investments.
“Columbia Threadneedle has significant global real estate investment capabilities that span the entire capital structure, and we are committed to offering this expertise in a variety of solutions, from strategic beta to direct real estate investment, to suit specific client needs,” added Zeitoun.
About Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset manager that provides a broad range of investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2,500 people, including over 650 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage $608 billion of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global asset management group of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP).
Columbia Threadneedle Investments (Columbia Threadneedle) is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
About Lionstone Investments
Lionstone Investments is a data-analytics driven real estate investment firm that conceptualizes, analyzes, and executes national investment strategies using proprietary algorithms and advanced analytics to strategically pinpoint the locations where innovation, economic vitality, and productivity intersect to create sustainable and vibrant communities. Generating smart insight via sophisticated analytic tools, Lionstone is able to identify the highest concentrations of growth and productivity in the U.S. economy. This unique approach finds durable growth and resilient income in a rapidly evolving world. Lionstone Investments is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.