REITs Still Offer A Solid Defense

摘要

Real estate investment trusts promise salvation for risk-averse investors in 2001. While the sector will never have the oomph of tech stocks, it should continue to do its job. Although REITs, which are real estate holding companies, trade like stocks, most of their earnings are paid out as dividends. So they have some of the growth potential of stocks and some of the stability of bonds. When the Nasdaq index took a nosedive in March, money managers suddenly saw the defensive value of REITs. Equity REITs had a 21.6% average total return in 2000 vs. the Nasdaq's 28.2% slide. "The collapse of the tech stocks was a major factor in the REIT rally," says Barry Vinocur, editor of Realty Stock Review.