REITs keep their yields high

Article Excerpt

ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $14.98 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through a broker; ca.ishares.com) holds the 13 Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index. The weight of any one REIT is limited to 25% of iShares CDN REIT Sector Index Fund’s value. iShares CDN REIT’s expenses are just 0.55% of its assets. RioCan REIT is the fund’s largest holding, at 25.0%, followed by H&R REIT (12.7%), Calloway REIT (8.5%), Canadian REIT (8.4%), Boardwalk REIT (7.0%), Dundee REIT (6.3%), Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (5.6%), Primaris Retail REIT (5.4%), Cominar REIT (4.5%), Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT (4.5%), Allied Properties REIT (4.2%), Artis REIT (4.0%) and Extendicare REIT (3.2%). The fund yields 4.9%. Most REITs, including those held by the iShares CDN REIT Sector Index Fund, are exempt from Ottawa’s income-trust tax, which took effect on January 1, 2011. That will help keep their distributions high. iShares CDN REIT is a buy. buy…