Own all of the top REITs

Article Excerpt

ISHARES S&P/TSX REIT INDEX ETF, $14.93, is a hold. The ETF (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) lets you tap all 21 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index. Investors pay a MER of 0.61%, and the REIT fund gives you a high 6.3% yield. The ETF’s top holdings are Canadian Apartment REIT (16.0%), Allied REIT (9.7%), RioCan REIT (9.4%), Granite REIT (7.8%), Choice Properties (6.3%), H&R REIT (5.4%), SmartCentres REIT (5.2%), First Capital Reality REIT (4.6%), Northview Apartment REIT (4.1%), InterRent REIT (3.7%) and Killam REIT (3.3%). Beyond those top holdings, investors also have exposure to Northwest Healthcare REIT (3.1%), Dream Industrial (2.9%), Cominar REIT (2.9%), WPT Industrial REIT (2.8%), Summit Industrial REIT (2.6%), Crombie REIT (2.3%), Boardwalk REIT (2.2%), CT REIT (1.8%), Dream Office REIT (1.8%) and Artis REIT (1.8%). We like some of the 21 REITs this ETF holds, but there are others we don’t view as buys. iShares S&P/TSX REIT is a hold. hold. …