BBRE vs XLRE

BBREAJPMorgan BetaBuilders MSCI US REIT ETF

XLREAState Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

BBRE A no-frills way to own the MSCI US REIT index: about 100 US landlords for 0.11% a year, roughly a third of what the typical real estate ETF charges, with tracking that has stayed tight to the benchmark.

XLRE The S&P 500's landlords in one ticker: about 30 large-cap real estate companies, mortgage REITs excluded, for 0.08% a year. It launched in 2015, before real estate was even its own market sector.

Stated mandate

BBRE The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the MSCI US REIT.

XLRE The fund seeks to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the Real Estate Select Sector Index, representing the real estate sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Why people hold it

• BBRE 0.11% a year versus a category median near 0.37%. On fees it sits well under the average real estate fund without doing anything clever to get there.
• The mandate is simple: match the MSCI US REIT index before fees. It has tracked that benchmark about as tightly as anything in its peer group.
• About 100 REITs in one line item, with distributions paid quarterly. Rent collection, outsourced.
• Running since 2018 with a billion-dollar-plus asset base behind it, so this is an established fund rather than a launch still finding its footing.

• XLRE 0.08% a year sits at the floor of the real estate peer group, where the median fund charges several times more.
• Clean mandate: S&P 500 real estate management, development and equity REITs, with mortgage REITs left out, so no mortgage paper rides along in a property fund.ssga.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most actively traded names in its category, which usually shows up as tight spreads when you click buy.
• Running since 2015, arriving before S&P and MSCI split real estate out as its own sector in 2016. Pays quarterly, and ranks among the stronger builds in a crowded lineup.reit.com

Worth knowing

• BBRE It trades lighter than the category's household names like VNQ and SCHH, so spreads can matter more, particularly in size or in a fast market.
• A few rivals shave the fee further: SCHH at 0.07%, USRT and FREL at 0.08%. The gap is small in basis points but it is real.
• One sector, roughly 100 companies. When the property cycle turns, there is no other corner of the fund to cushion it.

• XLRE About 30 holdings, so the largest positions carry real weight and one company's stumble is felt across the fund.
• The S&P 500 sets the universe, so REITs that never reach large-cap index status stay outside the portfolio.ssga.comsec.gov
• This is one slice of the market, moving with the property cycle rather than blending into a broad index.

Full BBRE profile⁠

Full XLRE profile⁠