Two exchange traded funds (ETFs) can sound alike, but pulling back the curtain can often reveal big differences, such as those between two international real estate funds.
The PowerShares FTSE/RAFI International Real Estate Portfolio (PRY) was born on Dec. 28, 2007, joining the WisdomTree International Real Estate ETF (DRW), which launched on June 5, 2007.
Both ETFs offer similar exposure, but have different methodologies in their construction.
Their trading volume alone is vastly different: over a three-month period, PRY traded 1,600 shares per day compared to DRW’s 34,700 shares. DRW holds more assets, too. This is likely a case of the first fund to market being the recipient of the lion’s share of the assets.
Both funds offer exposure for investors who are looking for real estate markets that aren’t in the troubled United States, says Don Dion for Seeking Alpha.
PRY gives international exposure to real estate in developed countries that fulfill criteria such as book value, funds from operations, dividends and sales. DRW uses a numbers-based dividend weighting method and has a 0.58% expense ratio vs. PRY’s 0.75%.
Both ETFs share the same top holding, and the top three countries allocated, but DRW has 192 components, while the largest five holdings make up 28.8% of the fund. PRY has 146 components, with the five largest holdings making up 23.9% of the ETF.
Australia, Hong Kong and Japan make up the top countries represented in each fund, with different percentages given to each country, depending on the fund.
Year-to-date, PRY is down 13.5% while DRW is down 14.2%. Interestingly, some of the domestic real estate ETFs have been doing better year-to-date, although they’re down, too.
When the global real estate market rights itself, other ETFs that can take you abroad are: