James Sempere, previously GRA's chief operating officer, is now CSIM's head of real estate investment and research. Other GRA senior managers joining CSIM include Daniel O'Connor, Lawrence Souza, Dionisio Meneses, and David Siopack. The financial terms of the deal were not announced and not otherwise immediately available.
GRA's property-based analytical models and proprietary real estate databases are used to evaluate REITs and other real estate companies in more than 50 countries. GRA's model-based approach to the evaluation of real estate securities is similar to that of Schwab Equity Ratings for stock selection.
As part of CSIM, GRA will take a lead role in the development and management of a new set of real estate investment products that CSIM plans to add to its current suite of index, fixed income and actively-managed equity funds. Last month, CSIM filed a registration statement for a new real estate offering, the Schwab Global Real Estate Fund. GRA's proprietary database and investment model will be used by the investment adviser to help select the fund's investments.
A source with Charles Schwab tells GlobeSt.com that GRA will continue to conduct investment research and provide consulting services to third parties, at least for the near term. In November , GRA announced a partnership with Standard & Poor's where in GRA will develop 10 new real estate indices for the company. The indices are expected to launch during first quarter of 2007. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has said it will trade futures and options on the indices.
Charles Schwab Investment Management is one of the nation's largest asset management companies. It is among the country's largest money market fund managers and is the third-largest provider of retail index funds. As of the end of 2006, the company had approximately $188 billion under management.
"With approximately $2 trillion invested worldwide, commercial real estate securities represent an important sector for investors," says Evelyn Dilsaver, president and CEO of Charles Schwab Investment Management, in a in a prepared statement. "The capabilities (GRA brings to the table) will provide Schwab with a unique advantage… ."
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