Tap into the top REITs

Article Excerpt

ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $16.44 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds all 16 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index. The fund’s MER is 0.61%, and it yields 5.0%. The ETF’s top ten holdings are RioCan REIT at 18.3%, H&R REIT (14.4%), Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (10.0%), Smart REIT (8.1%), Canadian REIT (7.9%), Allied Properties REIT (6.7%), Cominar REIT (5.3%), Granite REIT (5.0%), Artis REIT (4.4%) and Dream Office REIT (4.4%). After that, the fund’s breakdown includes Milestone Apartments REIT (3.7%), followed by Boardwalk REIT (3.7%), Pure Industrial REIT (3.5%), Crombie REIT (2.8%), Dream Global REIT (2.7%) and Northview Apartment REIT (2.3%). We like some of the REITs this ETF holds, but there are some among the 16 we don’t see as buys. iShares CDN REIT Sector Index Fund is a hold. hold…