Barclays' International REIT ETF: Own Property (Sort Of) Around the World

Back in October of 2006 I wrote how I wished there was an easy way to tap in to international real estate. In April of this year, StateStreet beat other exchange traded fund providers to the punch with their International REIT ETF. Still, as a fan of Barclays I had hoped that they too would introduce such a fund to the market. Well they finally did.

A post details Barclays' new International REIT (WPS). Key items of interest include:

• An underlying index composed of companies engaged in international property development, rental, management, and investment.
• A geographic mix of companies in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and others.
• Top five country holdings are Japan (22%), Australia (20%), Hong Kong (20%), UK (6.5%), and Singapore (5.6%).
• The ETF is made up of 330 components. More than the SPDR Dow Jones Wilshire International Real Estate ETF and the WisdomTree International Real Estate Fund
• An expense ratio of .48%
• Approximately $615 billion market capitalization for the underlying index as of May 2007.

It's been a long time since I've had any interest in a new ETF offering so I'm glad that there is finally one worth looking into to round out my portfolio.