As more utilize the real estate theme like a separate asset class, Guggenheim Investments has launched an equal weight real estate sector exchange traded fund for investors seeking an alternative to traditional market cap weighted benchmarks.
According to a press release, the Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Real Estate ETF (NYSEArca: EWRE) began trading Thursday, August 13. EWRE will track the newly created S&P 500 Equal Weight Real Estate Index, which equally weights components of the S&P 500 that are classified in the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) Real estate Industry Group. The new ETF has a 0.40% expense ratio.
S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI (NYSE: MSCI), two of the largest providers of benchmarks for exchange traded funds, previously announced that real estate will become the eleventh Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sector. The new GICS real estate sector is expected to be launched in August 2016, and EWRE’s underlying index will eventually align its holdings to reflect the new sector. [Real Estate Gets Sector Status; How That Will Affect ETFs]
“Recognizing that real estate is evolving into a separate asset class as a result of its growing importance to advisors and investors searching for income and capital appreciation and underscoring our firm’s commitment to providing clients with innovative investment solutions, Guggenheim is first to market today with a new equal-weight sector ETF which could have considerable impact on portfolio planning and research,” William Belden, Managing Director of Product Development for Guggenheim Investments, said in the press release.
Constituents will include exchange-traded equity real estate investment trusts and real estate management and development companies, excluding mortgage REITs – mortgage REITs will remain in the financials sector. Specifically, sub-sector weights include specialized REITs 28.2%, retail REITs 19.7%, residential REITs 16.2%, health care REITs 11.9%, office REITs 11.9%, industrial REITs 3.9%, hotel & resort REITs 4.1% and real estate services 4.1%.
Top holdings include American Tower Corp (NYSE: AMT) 4.1%, Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HST) 4.1%, Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE: AIV) 4.1%, CBRE Group (NYSE: CBG) 4.1% and Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS) 4.1%. Due to its equal-weight methodology, EWRE’s portfolio could lean more toward smaller companies, as opposed to a market-cap weighting methodology, which would be top heavy.
Investors have long enjoyed real estate investment exposure due to its dividend income and capital appreciation potential, according to Belden. Real estate has provided regular and above-average dividend yields to meet income needs or reinvest to bolster total returns. Additionally, since real estate rents and values typically rise with prices, the asset class may act like a hedge against inflation, and the dividend yield has historically outpaced inflation. [Yield-Generating ETFs To Play If The Fed Stands Pat]
For more information on new fund products, visit our new ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.