Opinions
Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTA
iShares Global Real Estate ETF
CGR-T
BUY
May 05, 2025
$30.720
Stock price when the opinion was issued
E.T.F.'s
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DON'T BUY
Don’t go beyond your chosen percent weighting. The MER is .65%, which is quite high. It is concentrated into about 10 different REITs. We have had ultra low interest rates for a long time and REITs do well in this environment. It is trading at lofty prices right now. He would not want to add any more here.
E.T.F.'s
COMMENT
Global REIT ETF. Been around for over 10 years. He wouldn't think of this ETF as a core holding. If you are a believer in a need for alternatives in your portfolio, a little uncorrelated from global equity markets or bond markets, then this one fits in. Overweight the U.S.. MER is on the higher side at 0.72. If you have an MSCI World or Global Equity ETF in your portfolio you probably already hold many of these securities. If you hold just a bit of Canada, then maybe a small weight in CGR can be a diversifier.
E.T.F.'s
CGR is a global REIT play. ZRE is an equal-weight REIT play. VRE is market-cap weighted.
There isn't a right way, one's not better than another. Looking back in history, in Canada the equal weight has been better than market-cap weighted. That's as a result of some of the smaller REITs doing better than some of the larger ones. Domestic REITs have better tax treatment than global ones. So it depends on whether you're investing in a Canadian taxable account or not. There are a lot of great global REIT dividend plays, but you have to consider the foreign withholding tax.
Any one of these is a great vehicle, but which one will depend on an individual investor's need for exposure and tax situation.