Cohen & Steers, a real estate asset management firm, has filed for an initial public offering. Merrill Lynch will lead the offering. Yesterday’s initial filing did not detail the number of shares nor the price range for the offering.

Cohen & Steers was founded in 1986 and focuses chiefly on real estate securities. It manages $7.59 billion worth of closed-end assets, up from $98 million in closed-end assets, according to SEC filing documents. Conversely, the firm’s open-end fund assets increased to $4.45 billion from $1.57 billion over the same period. The company’s shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CNS.