The role of non-traditional real estate sectors in REIT portfolios

Recent years have seen increased attention given to the real estate investment opportunities available from the non-traditional real estate sectors such as self-storage, healthcare, and other specialty real estate sectors. In particular, these non-traditional real estate sectors in equity REITs currently account for over $43 billion in 23 REITs, representing 14.5% of the equity REIT sector market capitalization. This paper will assess the performance of these non-traditional real estate sector REITs compared to traditional sector REITs from 1994:Q1 through 2005:Q3. In particular, their risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits will be compared to the more traditional REIT sectors (office, retail, industrial, residential, etc.) and to real estate, stocks, and bonds. Sub-period analyses will also be performed to assess whether the investment dynamics and portfolio diversification benefits for these non-traditional real estate sector REITs have been enhanced in recent years.