db X-trackers launches global real estate ETF

Deutsche Bank's exchange traded funds (ETF) platform, db X-trackers, has launched an ETF that gives investors exposure to the global listed real estate market.

The ETF tracks the performance of equity real estate investment trusts (Reits) and listed property companies around the world, offering a diverse representation of the global real estate market by both geography and property type. The underlying index is market capitalisation-weighted and covers both developing and developed markets.
 
"The db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate ETF offers investors a simple, cost effective and liquid route to participating in the performance of the global real estate sector. With an all-in fee of just 0.6% per annum, the ETF will appeal to institutional and private investors keen to add a diversified global property element to their portfolio," says Manooj Mistry, London-based head of db X-trackers for the UK.  
 
Reits are listed companies that manage real estate holdings, passing the profits to shareholders. They first appeared in the US in the 1960s, but over the past decade a number of countries have introduced legislation allowing for the listing of Reits.
 
The new ETF has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and compliments db X-trackers' ETFs referencing the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Eurozone Real Estate index, and the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Real Estate index. The latter, which launched in March 2010, has already generated over €210 million in assets under management.