REITs

The housing market may be picking up, but many clients have decided to avoid homeownership entirely.

REITs “have been one of, if not the biggest contributors” to the underperformance and volatility in mortgage bonds, said Bryan Whalen, co-head of mortgage bonds at Los Angeles-based TCW Group Inc., which oversees about $131 billion of assets.

First Allied Holdings, an independent broker-dealer, is set to be acquired by RCAP Holdings.

Planner Rich Arzaga believes individually owned property is key to a diversified portfolio. Just don't get him started on home ownership.

Perfect timing helped Baron Real Estate's Jeff Kolitch launch the fund with a bang. The next steps are trickier.

As the housing market rebounds, advisors face new challenges - and many new opportunities

Real estate investing is not for everyone - but for interested clients, a good planner can make all the difference.

In a low-yield environment, payouts of 4% to 6% have many investors thinking about increasing their exposure to real estate.

Starts Proceed Investment Co., a Tokyo-based real estate investment trust, plans to acquire about 10 billion yen ($107 million) of apartments as early as May, the most since 2008.

Experts are banking on continued strong performance and cash flows from real estate investment trusts.

Experts are banking on continued strong performance and cash flows from real estate investment trusts.

But can they keep their stellar performance going?

Real estate may be cyclical, but having exposure to real estate — especially commercial real estate — in a portfolio as an alternative source of income can be beneficial. What’s the best way to evaluate whether it makes sense for a client?

One reader took exception to a line in the article, "The Rich Rush To REITs," which appeared in the March 2012 issue of On Wall Street. The reader writes:

The actively managed fund will hold commodity, natural resources and REIT securities. It will diversify those with about a 10% allocation to gold, and a fixed-income piece.

Even better, REITs may be on an acquisition streak this year

FINRA has filed an enforcement complaint against David Lerner, the operator of a brokerage aimed at retail investors, claiming he misled investors when he tried to quell customer concern about an action taken against his firm for its marketing of real estate securities.

The best-performing mutual funds of 2011 invested in large-cap, dividend-paying stocks—putting utility, real estate investment trust, health care and consumer staple funds at the top of the heap.

To see if mortgage REITs might be right for your clients, analyze these companies like the levered bond funds they really are.

The U.S. commercial real estate industry is on the mend.