A sound investment process and strong management team underpin iShares Environmentally Aware Rl Est ETF's Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold. The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the cheapest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy's sensible investment philosophy merits a High Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained a significant overweight position in yield exposure and an underweight in quality exposure compared with category peers. High yield exposure is attributed to holding more stocks with high dividend or buyback yields. And a low quality exposure is rooted in stocks with higher financial leverage and lower profitability. The strategy’s management team earns an Above Average People Pillar rating. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Above Average Parent Pillar rating. People Pillar and Parent Pillar ratings for this strategy are indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following each pillar section for more details. The details of assigning methods can be found in each pillar section.

Analyst Rating

Prologis

Equinix

Digital Realty Trust

AvalonBay Communities

Equity Residential

Welltower

Simon Property Group

Public Storage

Ventas

Realty Income Corp

Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category index on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. iShares Environmentally Aware Rl Est ETF earns a High Process Pillar rating. The largest contributor to the rating is that this fund tracks an index. Historical data, like Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, finds that passively managed funds have generally outperformed their active counterparts, especially over longer time horizons. The firm's five-year retention rate of 92% also strengthens the process. The parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 55% contributes to the process. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and surpassed their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. Their relatively high success ratio suggests that this firm does well for investors and that this fund may benefit from that.

The investment strategy as stated in the fund's prospectus is:  The investment seeks to track the FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Green Target Index composed of developed market real estate equities while targeting increased exposure to green certification and energy efficiency relative to the parent index.  It invests at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of its index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of its index and may invest up to 10% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, and as well as in securities not included in the index. It is non-diversified. 

 The portfolio has allocations in its top two sectors, real estate and communication services, that are similar to the category. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are basic materials and energy; however, the allocations are similar to the category. The portfolio is composed of 364 holdings and is less top-heavy than peers. Specifically, 31.9% of the strategy's assets are concentrated within the top 10 fund holdings, as opposed to the typical peer's 36.5%. And in closing, in terms of portfolio turnover, looking at year-over-year movements, 4% of the fund's holdings have changed, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

High

Process

iShares Environmentally Aware Rl Est ETF's strong team drives the strategy's Above Average People Pillar rating. There are three managers listed on the fund: Paul Whitehead, Jennifer Hsui, Greg Savage. Experience on the team is abundant, with 18 years of average portfolio management experience. Together, they manage a total of 257 strategies, with a Silver asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating, indicating the potential to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median in aggregate.  

 Note: This People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. Morningstar analysts evaluate the People Pillar for passive products at the brand level and may also differentiate by asset class. There is at least one other passive strategy at the firm that is covered by a Morningstar analyst, so the People Pillar rating of the fund is inherited from the rating that the Morningstar analyst assigned to investment vehicles under the same brand name.

Above Average

People

BlackRock offers compelling options across asset classes and vehicles. It earns an Above Average rating for Parent. 
The firm’s approximately USD 8 trillion in assets under management, as of Sept. 30, 2022, gives it unparalleled scale and influence. It is a market-leading index fund provider globally, and its iShares exchange-traded fund franchise offers a low-cost lineup of core funds that investors can use to build a well-diversified portfolio for dirt cheap. The firm can be more adventurous in its ETF launches than some peers, so not everything it launches is appropriate for the masses. As a result, it is likely to have more ETF closures than peers that stick to the basic building blocks.  
The firm’s active fixed-income and multi-asset efforts also stand out as some of the best in the industry. Those benefit from BlackRock’s commitment to building a first-class risk management system via its Aladdin analytics software. The software is also available for sale to other firms and has proved to be a popular option for competitors, a testament to its usefulness. 
More recently, the firm has shifted its focus to ESG offerings and incorporating ESG across its investment lineup, leading to a political backlash in the United States.
BlackRock isn’t the best at everything it tries to do, but retail investors, financial advisors, and large institutions could all build robust portfolios using BlackRock’s products.

Parent

iShares Environmentally Aware Real Estate ETF

ERET tracks an index of real estate companies from developed markets weighted based on a target exposure to green certification, energy efficiency, and level of carbon emission intensity.

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OUTFRONT Media

REITs bounced back from a rough start to the year with a strong +3.26% average total return in March. Mid cap (+5.04%), small cap (+3.90%) and large cap REITs (+2.32%) averaged gains in March, while micro caps (-0.32%) saw yet another month in the red. 78.06% of REIT securities had a positive total return in March.

The State Of REITs: April 2024 Edition

American Homes 4 Rent

Brandywine Realty

Chatham Lodging Trust

Healthpeak Properties Inc

EPR Properties

Iron Mountain

Medical Properties Trust

REITs fell slightly deeper into the red in 2024 with a -0.81% total return in February. Mid cap (+1.46%) and large cap REITs (+1.04%) averaged gains in February outperforming small caps (-1.33%) and micro caps (-6.98%). Only 50.64% of REIT securities had a positive total return in February.

The State Of REITs: March 2024 Edition

Bank of America

Citigroup

CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust

Goldman Sachs

JPMorgan Chase & Co

Morgan Stanley

Office Properties Income Trust

The REIT sector had a rough start to 2024 with a -5.72% total return in January. Large cap REITs (-4.79%) outperformed their smaller peers in January. Micro cap REITs (-8.39%) averaged the steepest declines. Only 9.55% of REIT securities had a positive total return in January.

The State Of REITs: February 2024 Edition

American Tower

Diversified Healthcare Trust

Empire State Realty Trust

Kimco Realty

US Diversified Real Estate ETF

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust

Invesco Active US Real Estate

The REIT sector closed the year out strong with a +11.40% total return in December, pushing into positive territory for the full year (+8.66%). Small cap REITs (+13.39%) outperformed in December. Large cap REITs (+9.55%) averaged a lower return than their smaller peers. 90.79% of REIT securities had a positive total return in December with 66.25% in the black for the full year.

The State Of REITs: January 2024 Edition

Extra Space Storage

NexPoint Residential Trust

REITs averaged a -5.31% total return in October and have now fallen to a double-digit negative total return year to date (-10.46%). Large cap REITs (-2.24%) outperformed their smaller peers in October. Micro caps (-11.32%) extended their streak of severe underperformance. 26.80% of REIT securities had a positive total return in October with just 25.00% in the black year to date.

The State Of REITs: November 2023 Edition

Global Net Lease

Industrial Logistics Properties

Power REIT

ALPS Active REIT ETF

REITs averaged a -7.14% total return in September and have fallen into the red year to date. Small cap REITs (-6.51%) outperformed yet again in September. Micro caps (-10.45%) continue to severely underperform their larger REIT peers. Only 9.74% of REIT securities had a positive total return in September with 34.38% in the black year to date.

The State Of REITs: October 2023 Edition

Americold Realty

First Industrial Realty Trust

Hersha Hospitality Trust Class A

The REIT sector gave up some of the gains achieved in June and July, with a -4.13% average total return in August. Small cap REITs (-2.49%) outperformed again in August. Micro caps (-13.08%) badly underperformed their larger REIT peers. Only 18.06% of REIT securities had a positive total return in August, with 48.13% in the black year to date.

The State Of REITs: September 2023 Edition

Invesco MSCI Green Building ETF

Global X Funds-Global X Green Building Etf

iShares recently launched a new real estate ETF that is aligned with the concept of ESG (environmental, social and governance).

An Environment-Conscious Real Estate ETF Hits Market

News for iShares Environmentally Aware Real Estate ETF ETF (ERET)