Want A Stake In Global Or U.S. Real Estate? Check Out These 2 ETFs

 | Aug 23, 2021 04:56AM ET

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) allow investors to participate in the growth of real estate, one of the most important sectors of the economy. According to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT):

“REITs invest in the majority of real estate property types, including offices, apartment buildings, warehouses, retail centers, medical facilities, data centers, cell towers, infrastructure and hotels.”

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that focus on REITs offer the benefit of greater liquidity than investing in direct real estate. In addition, investors do not have to worry about various costs and legal issues (for example, related to mortgages, estate agents or tenants) that might come with being a property owner.

PGIM, the investment management business of Prudential Financial, highlights that in Q2:

“The best performers during the quarter were self storage and mall companies. Self-storage had a demand boost during the pandemic and is positioned well in a reflationary environment with monthly leases and low labor expenses. Malls continue to benefit from pent up consumer demand trends. The worst performing sectors during the quarter were lodging and healthcare.”

Regular followers of this column know that we cover the sector regularly. For example, in the past several months we have discussed the following ETFs:

  • iShares Residential and Multisector Real Estate ETF (NYSE:REZ) — up 30.5% year-to-date (YTD) (covered here and here);
  • Pacer Benchmark Data & Infrastructure Real Estate SCTR (NYSE:SRVR) — up 15.4% YTD (covered here);
  • The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) — up 28.5% YTD (covered here and here);
  • VanEck Vectors Mortgage REIT Income ETF (NYSE:MORT) — up 12.4% YTD (covered here);
  • Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE:VNQ) — up 25.5% YTD covered here and here).

Today, we extend the discussion to two other funds.

h2 1. JP Morgan BetaBuilders MSCI US REIT ETF/h2
  • Current Price: $100.35
  • 52-Week Range: $68.76 - $101.86
  • Dividend Yield: 1.98%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.11% per year

Our first fund, the JPMorgan BetaBuilders MSCI US REIT (NYSE:BBRE), focuses on the the US real estate sector. NAREIT suggests:

“The recovery in commercial real estate, like much of the rest of the economy, is likely to be uneven across sectors and subject to various lags and delays.”

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PwC takes a similar view as it points out:

“Industrial properties, data centers and single-family homes are expected to rise in value, while retail and hospitality will see the largest decline.”

BBRE, which has 138 holdings, tracks the returns of the MSCI US REIT Capped Index. The fund started trading in June 2018. The top 10 holding account for almost 40% of net assets of $1.42 billion.