S&P Dow Jones Indices has announced the launch of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Equal Weight REIT Index, which is designed to serve as a proxy for direct real estate investment by measuring the performance of publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) and REIT-like securities.
The new index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Real Estate Securities Index. The index constituents must be both an equity owner and operator of commercial and/or residential real estate, and at least 75% of the company's total revenue must be derived from the ownership and operation of real estate assets. A Canadian dollar-hedged version of the index has been launched concurrently.Â
‘The launch of this Index is indicative of the investment community's growing interest in REITs,’ says Michael Orzano, associate director of global equity indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. ‘Equal weighting is a logical product extension as market participants' attitudes toward REITs mature and they begin to seek more nuanced products in the asset class.’
