Five New iShares Real Estate ETFs Track FTSE NAREIT Indexes

The iShares family of exchange-traded funds are not content to sit on their lead. The have introduced five iShares Funds designed to track the FTSE NAREIT Indexes. With an annual expense ratio of 0.48%, the new iShares Funds trade on the NYSE and provide targeted exposure to the U.S. Real Estate Investment Trust [REIT] market. The new funds are:

iShares FTSE NAREIT Residential Index Fund (REZ)

iShares FTSE NAREIT Industrial/Office Index Fund (FIO)

iShares FTSE NAREIT Retail Index Fund (RTL)

iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index Fund (REM)

iShares FTSE NAREIT Real Estate 50 Index Fund (FTY)

In a press release, Noel Archard, Head of iShares Product Development summed up the benefits of REIT exposure for ETF investors: "REIT exposure generally offers several useful portfolio attributes, such as lower correlation to the broad equity and bond markets along with higher dividend yield. The iShares FTSE NAREIT Funds should provide investors with income and portfolio diversification benefits, in a cost-effective manner."