Top 10 Best Performer Real Estate REIT Mutual Funds of 2010: Part 2

This is my second article about Top 10 Best Performer REIT Equity Mutual Funds. REIT equity fund is very popular among long term investor. It provides an income stream in term of distribution or dividend either monthly or quarterly. Most investor may need to invest in REIT fund either through mutual funds or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or Closed End Funds (CEFs). The list includes all the REIT fund winner for year 2010. I usually check this winner list for my investment strategy in 2011 either investing in these REIT funds or REIT stocks. Rule of thumb for REIT investment is by investing 5-10% of total asset in this REIT asset class for portfolio diversification. The following article will explain about the next top 5 from my top 10 Best Performer REIT Equity Mutual Funds list.

Note: REIT = Real Estate Investment Trusts

Top 10 Best Performer Real Estate Mutual Funds of 2010 are:

1. PIMCO Real Estate Real Return Strategy A
2. JPMorgan US Real Estate A
3. TIAA-CREF Real Estate Sec Retail
4. Forward Select Income A
5. First American Real Estate Secs A
6. JPMorgan Realty Income A
7. Fidelity Real Estate Investment
8. T. Rowe Price Real Estate
9. ING Real Estate A
10. DFA Real Estate Securities I
11. Vanguard REIT Index Inv

If you miss my first article you can check it out here:

• Top 10 Best Performers Real Estate Funds - Part 1

The investment in JP Morgan Realty Income seeks for current income and total investment return through capital appreciation. The majority assets investment is 80% in equity securities of real estate investment trusts, including REITs with small market capitalizations, and 15% in illiquid holdings.

This fund is managed by Kay Herr since March 2007. The expense ratio of this fund is 1.36% per year. It has returned 23.97% over the past one year and 0.08% over the past five year. The 12b1 fee is 0.25% with 5.25% of max front end sales load. The minimum balance to invest in this fund and the other two tickers (URTBX and URTCX) is $1,000 for both brokerage and IRA account. This fund can be purchased from 77 brokerages include Morgan Stanley – Brokerage Accounts, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, etc. This fund is also offered in most IRA retirement, 401K retirement account, and 529 accounts. Some asset classes of fund have lower expense ratio fee, and no front end sales charge fee. Other class tickers of this fund are URTBX, URTCX, URTLX and JRIRX.

Top 10 holdings out of 55 total holdings of this fund as of February 2011 are Simon Property Group, Inc. (10.2%), Equity Residential (5.4%), Public Storage (4.9%), Boston Properties, Inc. (4.8%), Vornado Realty Trust (4.8%), HCP, Inc. (4.6%), ProLogis (3.6%), Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (3.4%), Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (3.2%) and Macerich Co. (The) (2.8%).

Fidelity Real Estate Investment seeks for long-term capital growth and above-average income. Primary assets investment is in common stocks and it invests at least 80% of its assets in securities of companies mostly involved in the real estate industry and other real estate related investments. This non-diversified fund may also invest in local and foreign issuers and uses fundamental analysis of factors as well as market and economic conditions to select investments.

The fund manager for this fund is Steve J. Buller that has been joining since December 1997. The expense ratio of this fund is 0.90% which is below the average in category (1.49%). The minimum balance for investment in this fund is $2,500 either for brokerage or IRA account. There is minimum no subsequent investment. It has returned 31.79% over the past one year.

The top 10 holdings of this fund as of January 2011 are Simon PPTY Group Inc – Reit, Public Storage, Equity Residential (Reit), Host Hotels & Resorts Inc., Boston Properties Inc., Prologis (Reit), Vornado Realty Trust, Hcp Inc Reit, Ventas Inc Reit and Kimco Realty Corporation. From the total of 44 holdings, these top 10 holdings equals to 56.55% of the portfolio. This fund is invested in USA only and major market sector is Financials (98.12%).

The investment in T. Rowe Price Real Estate pursues for current income and long-term growth through a combination of capital appreciation. This fund will not own real estate directly; it typically invests most of its assets in the equity securities of real estate companies (around 80%), in companies deriving a substantial portion of revenues or profits from servicing real estate firms (20%). This fund is currently open to new retail investors or subsequent retail investments.

The fund is managed by David M. Lee since 1997. It is a no-load fund, with neither front-end load nor back-end load. It has 0.00% of 12b1 fee. The minimum balance to open a brokerage account in this fund is $2,500 and $1,000 for IRA account. The expense ratio of this fund is 0.77%. There is no transaction fee. It gives out 1% of redemption fee on shares held 90 days or less. Other class ticker of this fund is PAREX.

.The 10 largest holdings of this fund which represents 45.92% of total net assets are AvalonBay Communities, Boston Properties, Equity Residential, Federal Realty Investment Trust, Host Hotels & Resorts, Public Storage, SL Green Realty, Simon Property Group, The Macerich Co and Vornado Realty Trust.

The investment in ING Real Estate is seeking for current income as well as total return consisting of long-term capital appreciation. This fund may lend portfolio securities on a short-term or long-term basis, up to 33% of total assets. Primary net assets investment is done in common and preferred stocks of U.S. REITs and real estate companies that are made up of of companies that are mainly involved in the real estate industry; it may also invest in Rule 144A securities, initial public offerings and convertible securities.

T. Ritson Ferguson has managed this fund since 1996. The expense ratio of this fund is 1.25%. It has 0.25% 12b1 fee and a maximum of 5.75% for front-end sales load. The minimum balance to invest in this fund is $1,000 for brokerage account (same for CRBCX, CRCRX, IDROX and IREWX) and $250 for IRA account. This fund can be purchased from 71 brokerages include Morgan Stanley Advisors, Schwab International, Vanguard, etc. This fund has returned 1.99% over the past five years and 10.34% over the past decade. Other class tickers for this fund are CRBCX, CRCRX, CRARX, IDROX, IREWX and IREQX.

Top Sectors of this fund as of January 2011 are Office Buildings ( 20.70%), Residential: Apartments ( 19.30%), Retail: Enclosed Malls (18.30%), Retail: Community Shopping Centers (10.70%), Healthcare Facilities ( 9.80%), Industrial Properties ( 7.80%), Residential: Hotels (7.80%), Self Storage Property (4.40%) and Residential: Manufactured Home Comm. (1.10%). While the top 10 holdings are Simon Property Group, Inc. (9.25%), Equity Residential (6.28%), Vornado Realty Trust (5.68%), Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (5.33%), Boston Properties, Inc. (4.94%), AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (3.89%), HCP, Inc. (3.72%), Public Storage, Inc. (3.66%), Macerich Co. (3.56%) and ProLogis (3.47%).

The Dimensional Fund Advisors Real Estate Securities investment is looking for long-term capital appreciation. The principal in assets investing of this fund is in equity securities of companies in particular real estate investment trusts and companies involved in residential construction and firms, excluding partnerships, with its principal business are to develop commercial property. As a way to generate additional income, this fund may also lend its portfolio securities. It can use derivatives, such as futures contracts and options on futures contracts for U.S. equity securities and indices. DFREX fund also acquits shares of real estate investment trusts (REITs).

The fund manager for this fund is Stephen Clark since 2008. The expense ratio of this fund is 0.36% which is very low compared to the average (1.49%). There is no 12b1 fee for this fund. There is also no sales load, neither front-end nor deferred sales load. The fund performance over the past year is 31.36% and 1.66% over the past five years. This fund can be purchased from 27 listed brokerages.

The top 10 holdings of this fund as of January 2011 are Simon Property Group Inc. (9.60%), Public Storage (5.10%), Equity Residential (4.98%), Vornado Realty Trust (4.69%), Boston Properties Inc. (4.27%), Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (3.98%), HCP Inc. (3.67%) and Avalonbay Communities Inc. (3.18%).

Vanguard REIT Index Investment is seeking for moderate long-term capital appreciation and a high level of income and. This Vanguard Fund uses a passive management or indexing investment method aimed to track the performance of the MSCI® US REIT Index. This index consists of stocks of freely traded equity real estate investment trusts. The fund endeavors to duplicate the index by investing all, or significantly all, of its assets in the stocks that consist of the index, holding each stock in roughly the same proportion as its weighting in the index.

This VGSIX fund is managed by Gerard C. O’Reilly since 1996. The expense ratio of this fund is 0.26% which is 82% lower than the average expense ratio of funds with similar holdings. There is no 12b1 fee as well as no sales-load. The minimum investment for this fund, either for brokerage, IRA or AIP account is $3,000. There is a 1% redemption fee if held less than 1 year. This fund has returned 31.25% over the past one year and 10.81% over the past decade. Other class ticker for this fund is VGRSX. Your best choice is to use Vanguard Brokerage Investment account to purchase this REIT fund.

The top 10 largest holdings with the total net assets of 42.8% are Simon Property Group Inc., Public Storage, Equity Residential, Vornado Realty Trust, HCP Inc., Boston Properties Inc., Host Hotels & Resorts Inc., AvalonBay Communities Inc., Ventas Inc. and ProLogis.

Disclosure: I have no affiliation with any of these funds. I also have no position in these funds. Please do your own research for additional details. Please trade and invest responsibly. Past Performance is No Guarantee of Future Results.