Prominent portfolio manager Dennis Mitchell has joined the fray of exchange-traded fund providers in Canada, launching two new funds under his new endeavour, Starlight Investments Capital LP.
Mr. Mitchell, Starlight’s CEO and chief investment officer, is sticking to his well-known expertise in the real estate securities with the launch of two global funds that will be sold as both ETFs and as a mutual funds series. Mr. Mitchell has managed more than $3-billion over his career at both Sprott Asset Management LP and Sentry Investments, before joining Starlight in March.
The Starlight Global Real Estate Fund (ETF ticker symbol SCGR) and Starlight Global Infrastructure Fund (SCGI) provide investors with access to publicly listed global real estate, and will begin trading on the NEO Exchange starting Oct. 2.
“Both real estate and infrastructure remain underallocated to by Canadian retail investors,” Mr. Mitchell said in an interview. “Global pension funds have demonstrated the long term benefits of adding listed and direct real estate and infrastructure assets to portfolios. The time has come for Canadian retail investors to make similar portfolio management decisions and to enjoy similar long term returns.”
Management fees for both funds will be 0.9 per cent for the ETF and F-class mutual funds, and 1.9 per cent for A-class mutual funds.
SCGI invests in a globally diversified portfolio of publicly listed global infrastructure companies, which could include companies in transportation (such as toll roads, airports, seaports, and rail), oil pipelines, gas and electricity transmission, water distribution and treatment, broadcast communications and infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and prisons.
SCGR provide regular current income by investing globally primarily in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and equity securities of corporations participating in the residential and commercial real estate sector.
Starlight Capital is the fourth business line of Starlight Investments, a premier North American real estate asset management firm. Mr. Mitchell met Starlight Investment’s president and CEO Daniel Drimmer in 2010, during the initial public offering of TransGlobe REIT, where Mr. Mitchell was one of the largest investors at the table.
The company has approximately $8-billion invested in commercial property and multifamily residential buildings in the United States and Canada, including 24,000 apartment units in Canada and 12,000 apartments in eight U.S. Sun Belt states.
Clare O’Hara