Sub-Par Performance In A Sub-Prime World? A Recent Comparative Performance Analysis Of Real Estate Mutual Funds Vs. Common Stock Mutual Funds

Abstract

Historically, little evidence has been found to suggest that real estate investments exhibit superior returns. Further, it appears that real estate mutual fund managers do not possess the ability to consistently beat benchmark averages. However, there have been mixed results for REITs indicating they might be characterized by inefficiencies that could be exploited by informed fund managers. In this analysis, we examine whether mutual fund managers who have concentrated in real estate assets have statistically outperformed other categories of equity mutual funds as well as the S&P 500 and various NAREIT Indexes.