NEW YORK, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 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 http://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
http://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. DATASOURCE: ING CONTACT:
Dana E. Ripley, Office: +1-770-980-4865, Cell: +1-404-788-9624, Web
Site: http://www.ingfunds.com/
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