Nareit Says Study Shows Two Decades of REITs Rocking

Investors wondering about the wisdom of a long-term commitment to real estate investment trusts (REITs) might want to take note of a new report that shows those equities have outperformed unlisted real estate investments for at least the past 20 years. The study was commissioned by Nareit and conducted by the CEM Benchmarking firm, which analyzed a 21-year data set to assess the allocation and performance of nearly $3.9 trillion in assets under management at more than 200 public and private sector pensions. The researchers came up with an annual return for REITs of 10.2%, second only behind private equity in the 12 kinds of investment classes studied.