ETF taps Canadian REITs

Article Excerpt

ISHARES CDN REIT INDEX ETF $18.37 (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. This includes retail, residential, office and industrial REITs. The fund has an MER of 0.61%, and it currently yields a high 4.6%. The iShares CDN REIT Index ETF’s top ten holdings are RioCan REIT (15.1% of holdings), Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (13.8%), H&R REIT (12.6%), Allied Properties REIT (9.8%), SmartCentres REIT (8.3%), Choice Properties REIT (6.1%), Granite REIT (5.5%), Dream Global REIT (5.1%), Cominar REIT (4.2%), and Boardwalk REIT (3.8%). Beyond those top holdings, the fund’s breakdown includes Northview Apartment REIT (3.0%), Killam Apartment REIT (3.0%), InterRent REIT (2.9%), Artis REIT (2.8%), Crombie REIT (2.5%) and Dream Office REIT (2.4%). We like some of the 16 REITs this ETF holds, but there are others we don’t view as buys. iShares CDN REIT Sector Index ETF is a hold. hold…