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In theory, REITs should deliver abnormal returns when inflation runs hot. In practice, REITs have barely registered positive returns. While I am not overly bullish on REITs (to say the least), I still see some exceptions that might be worth scooping up.
Landlords field midnight maintenance calls, wrestle with vacancies, and hand a cut to property managers before pocketing a dime. Three ETFs flip that arrangement entirely, turning real estate income into something closer to a direct deposit.
The default Vanguard trade in 2026 has been simple: Buy Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO) or Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA:VTI), ride the S&P 500 and let the Magnificent Seven do the heavy lifting.
The Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) focuses on U.S. markets, while the iShares Global REIT ETF (REET) spreads its bets across developed and emerging real estate markets worldwide. REET has delivered a higher one-year return with a slightly lower maximum drawdown over the last five years.
Vanguard Real Estate ETF offers a significantly lower expense ratio of 0.13% compared to 0.46% for FlexShares Global Quality Real Estate Index Fund FlexShares Global Quality Real Estate Index Fund provides a higher trailing-12-month dividend yield of 4.10% Both funds maintain similar risk profiles with 5-year maximum drawdowns exceeding 34.00%
VNQ dominates on returns with 14.9% gains over one year, while HAUZ offers lower costs and exposure to international property markets.
Preferred shares can offer enticing high-single-digit yields, but they can create a misleading sense of safety. I detail some of the biggest potential traps that retirees often fall into. I also share some of my top preferred picks of the moment.
Income investors, who apply a buy-and-hold strategy, inevitably run into the problem of divergent yield on cost vs. actual portfolio yield. If the idea is to never sell and the portfolio has appreciated, then the key issue is that each reinvestment dollar generates less and less incremental income. Target yield instrument can be used to solve this issue.
Full call transcripts — prepared remarks + analyst Q&A — with speaker-by-speaker formatting and one-click switching across every quarter on file.
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Transcripts source: company-published earnings calls. Speaker attribution and formatting are processed in-app.