FREI vs HAUZ

FREICFidelity Real Estate Income ETF

HAUZAXtrackers International Real Estate ETF

In short

FREI Not a REIT index fund. FREI is the ETF class of Fidelity's real estate income mutual fund: an active, income-first mix of property debt and dividend-paying real estate equity, with capital growth the secondary goal.

HAUZ The bargain passport for property: HAUZ owns real estate companies everywhere except the US, developed and emerging alike, for 0.10% a year. One of the cheapest ways to own the rest of the world's landlords.

Stated mandate

FREI The fund seeks higher-than-average income and secondarily capital growth. It normally invests at least 80% of assets in debt and income-producing equity securities of companies principally engaged in real estate and related investments.

HAUZ The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the performance of an iSTOXX Developed and Emerging benchmark.

Why people hold it

• FREI Income first, growth second, by charter: at least 80% of assets sit in real estate debt and income-producing equity, so bonds and preferreds do work pure REIT funds skip.fidelity.com
• Two doors, one portfolio. The ETF is a share class of Fidelity's existing real estate income mutual fund, not a strategy starting from an empty book.fidelity.com
• Run by people, not a rules screen, with room to move across the capital stack from mortgage debt to REIT equity. Upper half of its global real estate peer group.fidelity.com

• HAUZ Charges 0.10% a year against a 0.50% median for global real estate funds, undercutting even the low-cost giants VNQI (0.12%) and REET (0.14%).
• The US is deliberately left out. The index covers developed and emerging markets outside America, so it sits beside a domestic REIT holding instead of doubling it.dws.com
• About 400 holdings across dozens of markets, weighted by free float, so it owns the world's big listed property names rather than making country bets.dws.com
• Running since 2013 as a plain index tracker, and its portfolio lines up closely with the benchmark it promises.

Worth knowing

• FREI You pay for the active mix: 0.57% net of a waiver through November 30, 2027 (0.76% gross), above the category median and above index peers like HAUZ at 0.10%.
• The ETF class is young and much smaller than the mutual fund behind it, and it trades thinly. Spreads can widen, which is what limit orders are for.
• Debt and preferreds put interest-rate moves in the mix alongside property risk, so it behaves differently from a plain equity REIT fund.

• HAUZ One sector, one theme. Property equities move with interest rates and credit, and this fund's swings have been wider than most of what we grade.
• Distributions arrive once or twice a year, not monthly, so the income shows up lumpy.
• Moderate trading volume rather than headline volume, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the busiest global real estate funds.

Full FREI profile⁠

Full HAUZ profile⁠