Larry Swedroe on International REITS

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Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

Bogleheads,

In trying to better understand International REITS/Real Estate, I came across the following article by Larry Swedroe. I found this article very informative and was able to answer many of the questions or concerns I had regarding this asset class.

You can read more on Larry's thought regarding International REITS/RE here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162- ... al-estate/

In all, I would expect that this is an asset class that may be passed on. Investors would be fine with their international position comprised of the Total International Index Fund or a similar fund.

International REITS/RE appear to have many concerns such as:

1) Loss of the foreign tax credit if held in tax advantaged accounts

2) Mark up of investment properties which results in ordinary income to the US investor in taxable accounts, etc.

3) The higher costs of investing in this asset class. For example, for those of us that use index funds rather than ETF's, the Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate Index Fund charges a .25% purchase/redemption fee with .50% expense ratio. That is a little high for my tastes when I can invest in the US fund for much less.

4) Most countries do not share the US REIT structure from a tax and legal aspect and are considered "real estate focused companies", etc.

Overall, until I would hear many experts such as Larry Swedroe, Rick Ferri, John Bogle, and David Swensen, among others note that this asset class is needed and ideal, I am beginning to think the best route is the US REIT Index fund for those seeking additional real estate exposure.

Thoughts?
Last edited by abuss368 on Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Larry swedroe on International REITS

Post by Random Musings »

When reading the article, it appears that the main concern is placement in a portfolio; these funds are not appropriate in taxable accounts and so-so in tax-deferred (due to the foreign tax credit).

I don't think they say "no", but perhaps a maybe for tax-deferred accounts.

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Re: Larry swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

I would think that US REITS act as a good diversifier and do not follow the overall market due to the unique tax and legal structure.

It is my understanding this is not really the case with international entities. True, some companies have a REIT or REIT like tax and legal structure, however a lot of international entities are real estate oriented or focused. I would expect that to be a major difference.

Perhaps this is why we have not heard many experts such as David Swensen, Rick Ferri, etc. recommend an allocation (or overweight) to this asset class.
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Re: Larry swedroe on International REITS

Post by larryswedroe »

abuss
Not correct. There are now REITS with the same type structures around the world

The really good thing is that all RE is local so you get great diversification benefit, but the loss of the FTC (about 9-10% of div yield) is a high price to pay in addition to the fund expenses, and higher trading costs overseas. So just question of how much you value the diversification benefit vs the costs. At lower rates the cost of the FTC is of course lower.

Larry
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Re: Larry swedroe on International REITS

Post by huntertheory »

larryswedroe wrote:abuss
Not correct. There are now REITS with the same type structures around the world

Larry
This was always my concern with an "international REIT," is whether it really was a REIT. REITs domestically make sense because you avoid the double taxation of dividends as they don't get taxed provided they distribute 90% of the earnings (with some qualification/wiggle room/etc). Aside from the FTC issue, do any of the international REIT ETFs specify in their prospectuses that they only invest in REIT entities globally that share this same U.S. tax structure? I don't want to invest in a REIT that lacks the very thing that supposedly makes it a REIT.

In any event, I'm not a huge slicer and dicer, so it's more for academic interest.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

David Swensen, Yale Univeristy Endowment Manager, and author of Unconventional Success and Prioneering Portfolio Management has yet to recommend International REITS/RE as far as I am aware. He is very positive on REITS with a recommendation of 20%-30% of equities.

In the meeting I attend at my University recently with our guest being Mr. Swensen, he continued to recommend the portfolio in Unconventional Success without exception. There was no mention of including International REIT/RE.

Another invesment expert, Rick Ferri, has yet to recommend this asset class for the reasons mentioned (i.e. high costs, tax implications, etc).

Overall, very good thoughts.
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Re: Larry swedroe on International REITS

Post by grabiner »

Random Musings wrote:When reading the article, it appears that the main concern is placement in a portfolio; these funds are not appropriate in taxable accounts and so-so in tax-deferred (due to the foreign tax credit).
The lost foreign tax credit isn't that much; it was 5% of the dividend yield last year for Vanguard Global Real Estate, and has historically been about 3% for most foreign real estate ETFs.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by kramer »

Larry, for someone with space in tax deferred who is in a low tax bracket, do you have an opinion on the Vanguard International REIT ETF? (long term buy and hold only, I am about 50/50 USA/international equity)

So far I have decided against it due to the overall expenses and due to the fact that I think the majority of holdings are not in a true REIT structure.

My guess is that you share my ambivalence due to these factors.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by beardsworth »

Anyone interested in a single fund which combines both U.S. and foreign real estate may want to check out Northern Global Real Estate Index (NGREX).

Like most global real estate funds--and like the FTSE index this one follows--there may be some holdings which are in the real estate business without actually being REITs. Current expense ratio is 0.50% (would be 0.74% without a partial waiver). Last time I checked it was somewhat over 40% U.S., rest foreign.

I don't own it and am not recommending for/against it, but among real estate mutual funds currently available it seems to be unique, or nearly so, in being global and indexed.

http://individual.northernfunds.com/pws ... undtype=eq

Among actively managed global real estate funds, T. Rowe Price Global Real Estate (TRGRX) is compiling a good record so far. I don't own that one, either. Just watching.

Of course, a global real estate allocation can also be assembled with separate Vanguard funds, for those who don't mind the increase in number of holdings to rebalance.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by azanon »

Those problems aren't problems worth worrying about in a tax advantaged account. By definition, 2 of the 3 wouldn't apply to tax advantaged accounts. The third (the loss of foreign tax credit) will, on average, cost you in the neighborhood of 20 basis points per year. Though 20 basis points is nothing to sneeze at, it is more than offset by the well-documented advantage and unique portfolio diversification aspects inherent in this unique asset class.

As for vanguard's cost to enter and leave, folks.... that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Vanguard 101 - 1. You own the fund. When someone pays 0.25% to buy their shares and you already own this fund, guess who just got paid? Yep, you did. How about when they sell? You just got paid again! And for funds that are particularly volatile - meaning there's going to be a lot of buying and selling - you can reap some significant profits if you are a true bogleheader who is buying and holding. This is why I absolutely love Vanguard FTSC International Small cap (though not as much since they drop the expense from 0.75% to 0.50%). And don't believe the hype - those fees don't necessarily have to go to pay expenses. If they sell 100,000 shares one day, and someone buys 100,000 shares the same day, guess how much that cost Vanguard? Yes, nothing. They also have these fees to "discourage heavy trading" which is code for, they don't necessarily need the money so if you buy-and-hold, add 0.25% to your average annual return. At worst, and from the most cynical point of view, the fee costs you nothing once you own the fund. Over a long period of time, a one time 0.25 fee is completely insignificant.

For full disclosure, I own Vanguard International REIT as part of my portfolio and it is currently my top performing fund in my portfolio YTD (at least the last time I checked which was a few days ago).

Azanon

* Don't misunderstand my comments though. I don't personally recommend REITS either here or abroad in a taxable fund due to their brutal tax treatment. That 0.2% effective fee jumps to about 2% or more in a taxable account. See boglehead wiki "tax treatment of vanguard funds" for confirmation.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by DoWahDaddy »

azanon wrote:
For full disclosure, I own Vanguard International REIT as part of my portfolio and it is currently my top performing fund in my portfolio YTD (at least the last time I checked which was a few days ago).
Ditto, except that it's Fidelity's version for me, but same ranking in my portfolio. So as far as diversification goes, it's doing its job, at least for H1 2012.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by Spades »

abuss368 wrote: International REITS/RE appear to have many concerns such as:

1) Loss of the foreign tax credit if held in tax advantaged accounts

2) Mark up of investment properties which results in ordinary income to the US investor in taxable accounts, etc.

3) The higher costs of investing in this asset class. For example, for those of us that use index funds rather than ETF's, the Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate Index Fund charges a .25% purchase/redemption fee with .50% expense ratio. That is a little high for my tastes when I can invest in the US fund for much less.

4) Most countries do not share the US REIT structure from a tax and legal aspect and are considered "real estate focused companies", etc.

Overall, until I would hear many experts such as Larry Swedroe, Rick Ferri, John Bogle, and David Swensen, among others note that this asset class is needed and ideal, I am beginning to think the best route is the US REIT Index fund for those seeking additional real estate exposure.

Thoughts?
Heya Abuss,

I guess our earlier discussion on Int'l REITs is still churning in your mind. I'm still too cautious for exposing myself to this asset class, but thanks for the update on the tax issues of it. Has Swedroe written anything about the return on investments in the long term of Int'l REITs?

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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

I have not seen anything. I am leaning towards it is a little early yet to come on board with this asset.

For starts - the high expense ratio and purchase/redemption fees with the Vanguard Index fund (no ETF here).

Second, until I hear a few experts recommend this asset class such as David Swensen, Rick Ferri, etc. I am hesitant.

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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

Sam Zell, the pioneer and king of the REIT world is very high on International REITS/RE. I have been reading a few interviews online where he noted the opportunities are plenty and that he has not built anything in the US since 2007.
Last edited by abuss368 on Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by huntertheory »

I'd be interested in an analysis of the long term difference in returns of a REIT index fund/ETF with dividends reinvested compared when held in taxable vs. tax-advantaged accounts. Given the dramatic fluctuations of the fund and the tax rules about the distribution of a REIT's income, the yield makes up a substantial component of the return on holding a REIT index, and further reinvesting the dividends is something like dollar cost averaging your investment in the fund. As a result, I would think taking 25-35% out of each dividend check, taxed as ordinary income, would have dramatic long-term effects on holding this fund.

I know everyone recommends it for tax-advantaged accounts, but was just curious if someone had done the comparison over time.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by azanon »

huntertheory wrote:I'd be interested in an analysis of the long term difference in returns of a REIT index fund/ETF with dividends reinvested compared when held in taxable vs. tax-advantaged accounts. Given the dramatic fluctuations of the fund and the tax rules about the distribution of a REIT's income, the yield makes up a substantial component of the return on holding a REIT index, and further reinvesting the dividends is something like dollar cost averaging your investment in the fund. As a result, I would think taking 25-35% out of each dividend check, taxed as ordinary income, would have dramatic long-term effects on holding this fund.

I know everyone recommends it for tax-advantaged accounts, but was just curious if someone had done the comparison over time.
On Boglehead wiki, they have a detailed page on tax treatment of various fund types. I believe holding an REIT fund in a taxable account is roughly the equivalent of the fund having an extra 2.0% management fee (on top of whatever fee it already has). Obviously, that would vary depending on the yield and one's tax bracket, etc. REIT was second from the worst, and the worst was a High-Yield Bond fund.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by Valuethinker »

huntertheory wrote:I'd be interested in an analysis of the long term difference in returns of a REIT index fund/ETF with dividends reinvested compared when held in taxable vs. tax-advantaged accounts. Given the dramatic fluctuations of the fund and the tax rules about the distribution of a REIT's income, the yield makes up a substantial component of the return on holding a REIT index, and further reinvesting the dividends is something like dollar cost averaging your investment in the fund. As a result, I would think taking 25-35% out of each dividend check, taxed as ordinary income, would have dramatic long-term effects on holding this fund.

I know everyone recommends it for tax-advantaged accounts, but was just curious if someone had done the comparison over time.
Your intuition is entirely correct.

In the long run losing 25-30% of an investment that is primarily held for its income (rather than capital growth) is a real issue. it will kill your performance.

When I got first interested in REITs they were paying cash interest 7-8%. I guess I'd like to believe they were sustainably back to that (and discounts to NAV) before I got interested. The volatility in 2008-09 really put me off.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

I wonder if the REIT King himself, Sam Zell, worries amount taxes instead of making money in terms of his huge holdings directly with Equity Office (in years past), Equity Residential, and Equity Lifestyle. Did anyone check out the number of shares he owns of each and the incredible dividend income?

Come on folks, as Warren Buffett said on CNBC a few weeks back, people get too hung up on taxes sometimes. If you are paying taxes, you are making money.

Taxes are one consideration of an overall investment, not the only one. Be aware and plan but let's not go over board.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by LH »

abuss368 wrote:I wonder if the REIT King himself, Sam Zell, worries amount taxes instead of making money in terms of his huge holdings directly with Equity Office (in years past), Equity Residential, and Equity Lifestyle. Did anyone check out the number of shares he owns of each and the incredible dividend income?

Come on folks, as Warren Buffett said on CNBC a few weeks back, people get too hung up on taxes sometimes. If you are paying taxes, you are making money.

Taxes are one consideration of an overall investment, not the only one. Be aware and plan but let's not go over board.
Well, as a somewhat aside to the above, bold added to the point addressed:

If you are paying taxes, you are making nominal money.

You may or may not be actually making money in the real, inflation adjusted sense, which is what counts.

As with inflation, you can pay tax even when you make zero real money. If an investment makes 2 percent a year, and inflation is 3 percent, well, you can still get taxed on that 2 percent nominal "gain" even though you are already losing money in real terms. Very important to realize, especially in todays bond environment, that under those conditions: 1)You are losing money already 2)You can be taxed on the loss/nominal "gain".

Taxes are nothing special per se, but usually are very important due to the size of the performance hit, especially when compounded.

If inflation goes up, the "inflation tax" becomes more and more important, and can be a real killer to real performance, so its good to keep it in mind.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by huntertheory »

abuss368 wrote:I wonder if the REIT King himself, Sam Zell, worries amount taxes instead of making money in terms of his huge holdings directly with Equity Office (in years past), Equity Residential, and Equity Lifestyle. Did anyone check out the number of shares he owns of each and the incredible dividend income?

Come on folks, as Warren Buffett said on CNBC a few weeks back, people get too hung up on taxes sometimes. If you are paying taxes, you are making money.

Taxes are one consideration of an overall investment, not the only one. Be aware and plan but let's not go over board.
Fair point, that the goal is to maximize after-tax returns whereas some people start getting into the trap of trying to simply minimize taxes. But of course Zell is also buying these properties as a manager and major shareholder of his companies. As a result he has a bit more tax flexibility.

I will say though that the discussion around REIT taxes versus, say, dividend stocks or dividends in general tends to ignore the fact that the beauty of the REIT is it is a pass-through entity in a sense and doesn't pay corporate taxes on the distributions, whereas my dividends from total stock market or McDonald's are (if not held in tax advantaged space) taxed twice. Of course, that can indicate even more how much better these vehicles work when held in tax-advantaged space.

I'm going to have some additional tax advantaged space open up this calendar/tax year from a small side business. I am considering putting the money equally in Vanguards REIT fund/ETF and Vanguard's International REIT Fund/ETF, as I currently have no REIT exposure beyond the broad market indices. We'll see.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by dharrythomas »

I've got some in my Roth. We'll see, there are no promises that anything you do will work over YOUR investment horizon.

Good Luck.

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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by Charybdis »

"1) Loss of the foreign tax credit if held in tax advantaged accounts"

I understand that international REITs distribute a lot of dividends, thus the dividend withholding tax charged by foreign governments may be high.

But REITs are given special tax status that allows them to avoid or reduce corporate tax. So doesn't this corporate tax benefit offset the high dividend withholding tax? I mean if the REIT itself pays less or no corporate tax, this enhances your return in the end (but the dividend withholding taxes reduce it).
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by claimui »

Charybdis wrote:But REITs are given special tax status that allows them to avoid or reduce corporate tax. So doesn't this corporate tax benefit offset the high dividend withholding tax? I mean if the REIT itself pays less or no corporate tax, this enhances your return in the end (but the dividend withholding taxes reduce it).
REITs in the US are given special tax status under US tax law. Not every country represented in Vanguard's International REIT/RE fund has a REIT tax structure. Countries that do have REIT structures may (and most likely do) implement them differently than the US. Lastly, since the REIT structure is new to many countries, older international real estate companies might not have made the switch.

For example, just looking at the Vanguard fund's top holdings, I don't think any of the Japanese holdings (Mitsubishi Estate, Mitsui Fudosan and Sumitomo Realty) are REITs (although Japan does have REITs and perhaps these companies own some). I think they are set up as regular companies that happen to derive most/all income from real estate. Same with the top Hong Kong holdings, Sun Hung Kai and Cheung Kong. Farther down, The Link REIT is a Hong Kong REIT, but it is a much smaller holding than the other two companies. I googled Westfield Group quickly and it looks like they have both REIT shares (maybe the "Westfield Retail Trust" shares) and regular corporate shares. So of the top 10 holdings, my guess is probably only the bottom two are actually REITs under their local tax laws, and even then the REIT laws may be different in those countries.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by Charybdis »

I am considering this ETF (domiciled in the EU, not available to US investors): db X-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT GLOBAL REAL ESTATE ETF
It is a global REIT index tracker, weighted by countries (US - 43.24%, Hong Kong - 8.67%, Japan - 8.04%, Australia - 7.10%, Canada - 5.11%, United Kingdom - 4.51%, China - 3.96%, Singapore - 3.78% etc.) Looks like the REIT is popular in the US, and in Hong-Kong.

The cool thing about this fund is that it doesn't distribute dividends, so I avoid the hassles and high cost of reinvesting the dividends (the ETF reinvests the dividends back into the fund).

In Hungary, there is such a thing as REIT (they are called "SZIT" here), they work exactly like US REITs (no corporate tax and other tax benefits, if it holds mostly real estate, and distributes 90% of dividends) - basically the politicians just copied the US REIT structure. But as of today, there are exactly zero REIT companies in Hungary Lol. So no one has implemented this structure yet, but the possibility is there.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by VennData »

What the article fails to mention is that the market price should reflect the differing tax treatments. With two tax differences pulling the justification from taxable to non-taxable, they would further seem to balance each other as the market adjusts the price to reflect these issues, otherwise shorting them would be a free lunch.

The fees will drop, Vanguard does this over time, and last I checked this asset class is trading at 90% of book.

It's true that the diversication benefits are many and the purchase redemption fees go to the fund, so I like this Vanguard fund, and prefer the ETF, VNQI, as the best way to capture these returns.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

Regarding International REITs/RE, I think it is still too early to tell. I want to hear from additional experts such as Mr. Bogle and Mr. Swensen. I would also have to see the expense ratio decline at Vanguard and the purchase/redemption fee be eliminate before investing (no ETF's here).
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by cb474 »

azanon wrote:As for vanguard's cost to enter and leave, folks.... that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Vanguard 101 - 1. You own the fund. When someone pays 0.25% to buy their shares and you already own this fund, guess who just got paid? Yep, you did. How about when they sell? You just got paid again! And for funds that are particularly volatile - meaning there's going to be a lot of buying and selling - you can reap some significant profits if you are a true bogleheader who is buying and holding.
If this is correct, does that mean that people who invest in the global real estate ETF VNQI (any pay no fee at all) are getting a free lunch?
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

Not sure. I would still like to see Vanguard reduce the expense ratio. Since my original post, I have noted that the funds assets are now over $600 million. Appears to be rising a lot faster now.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by iceport »

abuss368 wrote:Bogleheads,

In trying to better understand International REITS/Real Estate, I came across the following article by Larry Swedroe. I found this article very informative and was able to answer many of the questions or concerns I had regarding this asset class.

You can read more on Larry's thought regarding International REITS/RE here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162- ... al-estate/
UPDATE ALERT:

Larry recently provided some more explicit thoughts (and actually his own thoughts, not just those of his colleague and co-author) in this post:

Re: International REITs anyone?
larryswedroe wrote:two key points
GREAT diversifier, as its all local. No good location as not tax efficient and lose FTC (roughly 10% of div yield).
So have to decide how much you think diversification is worth.

Right now IMO worth a lot relative to US REITS as they are very cheap relatively speaking in valuation metrics, the best predictor of returns.
Example DFA int'l REIT has P/CF of about 11.5 vs about 16.5 for Vanguard US REIT. That is huge difference in expected returns, swamping loss of FTC

Hope that is helpful
Larry
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by NOLA »

Does it really work that way? That the purchase & redemption fee goes back into the fund and benefits the investors that stay for the long run? If so, that makes this International fund more interesting. Anyway it can be calculated?
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by garlandwhizzer »

A few of points on international REITS, specifically Vanguards. First of all, with respect to purchase fees (.25%), redemption fees (.25%), and expense ratios of VGXRX (.5%), one can own the very same holdings in the Vanguard ETF, VNQI, and pay no purchase fee, no redemption fee, and a lower expense ratio (.35% versus .5%). So, unless one is categorically opposed to using ETFs, these mutual fund fees are a non-issue. Second, as far as increased costs relative to US REITs and the effect of losing some of the dividend from international tax inefficiencies with VNQI versus US REITS, it may be enlightening to look at what the dividends paid in 2012 for these two classes. VNQI in calendar 2012 returned a 5.7% dividend, some in September, most of it in December, while the Vanguard admiral US REIT fund paid a total of 3.7%, distributed quarterly, some of which was not actually dividend income but return of capital. Third, in terms of tax efficiency, neither US REITS nor VNQI are tax efficient and probably should be held in tax-advantaged accounts. According to the Vanguard web page for estimated fund distributions for 2012, of the $2.26 dividend distributed by VNQI in December 2012, 13% is "qualified dividend" and therefore can receive preferred tax treatment if it is held in a taxable account at least in 2012. None of the $.56 distributed by the Vanguard Admiral REIT fund in December is a qualified dividend.

International REITS are not for everyone, but with their better valuations and higher dividends relative to US REITs, it may not be wise to categorically rule them out because they are new and foreign.

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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by STC »

I simply own 5% int REIT and 5% us REIT. This diversifies my 10% allocation to REITs from my IPS. The difference in ER is 25 basis point. I am more then happy to pay 25 basis points for diversification and rebalance benefits. Both held in tax deferred accounts.

VNQ & VNQI are my holdings.

Cheers!
Last edited by STC on Sat Dec 22, 2012 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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zaboomafoozarg
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by zaboomafoozarg »

My allocation for stock is 2/3 domestic, 1/3 international, so I'm applying the same to REITs - 2/3 VNQ, 1/3 VNQI. VNQI might be a better buy right now compared to VNQ, but 2/3, 1/3 is something I can stick with.
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Re: Larry Swedroe on International REITS

Post by abuss368 »

If I went with International REITs/Real Estate someday, I would probably split the Real Estate allocation 70% US and 30% International - same as the stock holdings.
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
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