ICF vs XLRE

ICFBiShares Select U.S. REIT ETF

XLREAState Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

ICF Since 2001 this fund has owned a short list of about 30 big U.S. landlords instead of the whole property sector. Cohen & Steers builds the index, iShares runs the wrapper, and concentration is the feature, not an accident.

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

ICF The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. real estate investment trusts, offering diversified exposure to the U.S. real estate market.

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

• ICF Concentrated by design: about 30 large U.S. REITs drawn from the Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index, so the biggest landlords carry real weight rather than getting diluted.ishares.com
• Charges 0.32% a year, below the median fee for U.S. real estate ETFs.
• Tracks its index very closely, one of the stronger implementations in the U.S. real estate group.
• Running since 2001 through multiple property cycles, at multi-billion-dollar scale, paying distributions quarterly.

• 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

• ICF Not the cheap option next to the index giants: SCHH, VNQ and USRT all charge a fraction of its fee.
• With about 30 names, a single landlord or property type can steer results more than in a fund that owns the full sector.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume leader among REIT funds.

• 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 ICF profile⁠

Full XLRE profile⁠