ING Raises $370 Million in IPO for the ING Infrastructure, Industrials and Materials Fund (NYSE Symbol IDE)
NEW YORK, Jan. 27 -- ING Investment Management today announced the launch of the ING Infrastructure, Industrials and Materials Fund (the "Fund"), a newly organized, diversified, closed-end fund. The Fund invests primarily in a broad range of companies in the infrastructure, industrials and materials sectors that we believe will benefit from the building, renovation, expansion and utilization of infrastructure.
ING Infrastructure, Industrials and Materials Fund raised $370 million in an initial public offering led by Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, UBS Securities LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. The Fund began trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker "IDE".
"We are very excited to offer this new fund to financial advisers and their clients," said Mark Weber, Executive Vice President and Head of Investment Solutions. "We believe the Fund's research-driven approach to infrastructure investing is unique. Not only does the Fund invest in pure-play infrastructure companies, but it also invests in companies from more than 30 global industries that may benefit from the overall infrastructure development spending trend. We believe the Fund leverages ING's global research expertise and, specifically, taps the firm's highly experienced team of sector analysts in the Americas, Europe and Asia in a very broadly diversified, timely infrastructure investment."
"The need for increased spending on maintenance and new infrastructure is rising globally," said Chris Corapi, Chief Investment Office for U.S. Equities at ING Investment Management in the U.S. "Our belief is that infrastructure spending is driving the earnings growth of selected companies, and the strength and duration of this trend is particularly noticeable in infrastructure, industrials and materials industries. This is a strong, long-term investment theme for the coming decade and one that we feel may present substantial opportunity for investors."
The Fund is managed by ING Investments, LLC and draws upon a team of experienced investment professionals at ING Investment Management Co. ("ING IM"), the Fund's sub-adviser. The investment management team is led by Corapi and Uri Landesman, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Growth, who are responsible for the overall security selection and portfolio construction of the Fund.
ING IM believes that many mature economies are faced with the need to overhaul and modernize their infrastructure over the coming decades and that simultaneously emerging economies will be developing or upgrading their infrastructure to improve living standards and support the growth and productivity of their economies. Under the Fund's strategy, in addition to investing in the companies that own and/or operate infrastructure facilities in the infrastructure sector, the Fund will seek to invest in a broader range of companies, principally in the industrials and materials sectors, that the Fund's portfolio managers believe, based on proprietary research, will benefit from the building, renovation, expansion and utilization of infrastructure.
Under normal market conditions the portfolio managers will invest in 60 to 100 U.S. and international equity securities focusing on companies that they believe will benefit from increased government and private spending in six areas: power, construction, materials, communications, transportation and water. The Fund will also seek to secure gains and enhance the stability of returns over a market cycle by selling call options on either (1) the value of subsets of stocks in its portfolio or (2) selected equity securities held in its portfolio, generally comprised of a portion of the Fund's large-capitalization holdings.
ABOUT ING INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
ING Investment Management is a leading asset manager and one of the world's largest real estate investors. As of September 30, 2009, we manage approximately euro 414 billion of assets for institutions and individual investors worldwide, and we serve as the principal asset manager of ING Group, the global financial services company. With over 5,000 employees and investment professionals locally based in 35 countries across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, ING Investment Management provides clients with access to domestic, regional and global investment solutions.
ABOUT CLOSED-END FUNDS
Closed-end funds like the Fund do not continuously offer shares for sale and are not required to buy shares back from investors upon request. Shares of closed-end funds trade on national stock exchanges and, like other securities, share prices will fluctuate with market conditions and at the time of sale may be worth more or less than the original investment.
For more complete information, or to obtain a prospectus on any ING fund, please call your Investment Professional or ING Funds Distributor, LLC at (800) 992-0180 or log on to
www.ingfunds.com. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. Consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this information and other information about a fund. Check with your investment professional to determine which funds are available for sale within their firm. Not all funds are available at all firms.
This Fund has no historical performance. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate, and shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Please log on to
www.ingfunds.com in order to obtain performance when available.
Principal Risk Factors:
Not FDIC Insured Not NCUA/NCUSIF Insured May lose value No bank guarantee No credit union guarantee
No Prior History - The Fund is a newly organized, diversified closed-end management investment company with no history of operations or public trading of its Common Shares.
Market Discount Risk - Shares of closed-end management investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their net asset value (NAV), and the Fund's Common Shares may likewise trade at a discount to their NAV. The trading price of the Fund's Common Shares may be less than the public offering price at any point in time. Common Shareholders who sell their shares within a relatively short period after completion of the public offering are likely to be exposed to this risk. Accordingly, the Common Shares are designed primarily for long-term investors, and investors in the Common Shares should not view the Fund as a vehicle for trading purposes.
Infrastructure-Related Investment Risk: Because the Fund invests in infrastructure companies, it has greater exposure to potentially adverse economic, regulatory, political and other changes affecting such companies. Infrastructure companies are subject to a variety of factors that may adversely affect their business or operations including interest rates and costs in connection with capital construction projects, costs associated with environmental and other regulations, the effects of economic slowdowns, surplus capacity, increased competition from other suppliers of services, uncertainties concerning the availability of necessary fuels, energy costs, the effects of energy conservation policies and other factors. Infrastructure companies may be subject to the following additional risks: Regulatory Risk, Technology Risk, Regional or Geographic Risk, Natural Disasters Risk, Through-Put Risk, Project Risk, Strategic Asset Risk, Operation Risk, Customer Risk, Interest Rate Risk and Inflation Risk.
Industrials Sector Risk - The industrials sector can be significantly affected by general economic trends, including employment, economic growth, and interest rates, changes in consumer sentiment and spending, the supply of and demand for specific industrial and energy products or services, commodity prices, legislation, government regulation and spending, import controls, and worldwide competition. For example, commodity price declines and unit volume reductions resulting from an over-supply of materials used in industrials and energy equipment & services industries can adversely affect those industries. Furthermore, a company in the industrials sector can be subject to liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control.
Materials Sector Risk - The materials sector can be significantly affected by the level and volatility of commodity prices, the exchange value of the dollar, import controls, and worldwide competition. At times, worldwide production of materials has exceeded demand as a result of over-building or economic downturns, which has led to commodity price declines and unit price reductions. Companies in the materials industries can also be adversely affected by liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control, labor relations, and government regulations.
Option Risks - There are numerous risks associated with transactions in options. A decision as to whether, when and how to write call options under the Fund's strategy involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived transaction may be unsuccessful to some degree because of market behavior or unexpected events.
When a call option sold by the Fund is exercised or closed out, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities or to deliver portfolio securities to the option purchaser to satisfy its obligations when it would not otherwise choose to do so, or the Fund may choose to sell portfolio securities to realize gains to offset the losses realized upon option exercise. Such sales or delivery would involve transaction costs borne by the Fund and may also result in realization of taxable capital gains, including short-term capital gains taxed at ordinary income tax rates, and may adversely impact the Fund's after-tax returns.
The Fund cannot guarantee that its call option strategy will be effective.
Issuer Risk - The value of securities held by the Fund may decline for a number of reasons that directly relate to the issuer, such as changes in the financial condition of the issuer, management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's goods and services. The amount of dividends paid may decline for reasons that relate to an issuer, such as changes in an issuer's financial condition or a decision by the issuer to pay a lower dividend. In addition, there may be limited public information available for the Sub-Adviser to evaluate foreign issuers.
The Fund may also be subject to the following categories of risk: Foreign Investment and Emerging Markets Risk, Equity Risk, Small-Cap and Mid-Cap Companies Risk, Investment and Market Risk, Derivatives Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Illiquid Securities Risk, Distribution Risk, Tax Risk, Foreign (non-U.S.) Currency Risk, Portfolio Turnover Risk, Management Risk, Initial Public Offering Risk, Depositary Receipts Risk, Securities Lending Risk, Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk, Current Capital Markets Environment Risk, Anti-Takeover Provisions, No Temporary Defensive Positions Risk, Sub-Custody Risk, Short Sales Risk, Preferred Stock Risk, Convertible Securities Risk, High-Yield Lower-Grade Debt Securities Risk and Leverage Risk. For a complete listing of all the Fund's risks with their descriptions, please refer to the Prospectus.
Important legal information
Certain of the statements contained herein are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, among other things, (i) general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets, (ii) performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) interest rate levels, (vii) currency exchange rates (viii) general competitive factors, (ix) changes in laws and regulations, (x) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (XI) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (XII) ING's ability to achieve projected operational synergies. ING assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this document.
SOURCE ING
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