ETF Spotlight on SPDR Dow Jones REIT (NYSEArca: RWR), part of a weekly series.
Assets: $1 billion
Objective: RWR seeks to track the Dow Jones U.S. Select REIT Index.
Holdings: RWR’s index is made up of companies whose charters are the equity ownership and operation of commercial real estate. Each REIT in the index is weighted by its float-adjusted market capitalization, according to State Street’s fact sheet on the fund. The top companies in the fund are Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) and Public Storage (NYSE: PSA).
What’s Good
- This ETF delivers diverse exposure to the real estate investment trust (REIT) market, holding a mix of apartments (15.2%), health care (14%), regional malls (13%), office space (12.4%) and more.
- This fund was down 41.5% in 2008, but since the market’s low on March 9, it has climbed more than 105%.
- RWR’s expense ratio is 0.25%.
The Latest News
- The IRS recently came out with new rules that would simplify commercial real estate loan refinancing in order to stem the tide of defaults
- These new rules would allow these loans to be refinanced without setting off tax penalties for investors
- Anton Troianovski for The Wall Street Journal reports that the recovery environment could reflect the 1990s, when many real-estate developers went public to avoid bankruptcy and helped turn real-estate investment trusts into a major force in the property market
- The sector has a heavy debt load, but if REITs can roll it over, the shares may not suffer
- REITs already have rallied about 90% from the 18-year low they hit in March as the drop-off in home prices and economic conditions has slowed, reports Donna Kardos Yesalavich for The Wall Street Journal
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.