At NAREIT, we consider it our purpose to help the public gain a better understanding of the real estate investment proposition, particularly with regard to REITs. Given the number of hats that NAREIT wears for the industry, it becomes easy to forget that we are here to educate, above all else.

We believe that one of the best ways to accomplish this goal is by constantly improving the overall body of research and information available to the investment community. For example, in 1972, NAREIT became the first group to collect comprehensive data on the performance of U.S. real estate. That effort evolved into the NAREIT Domestic Real Estate Index Series. In 2006, NAREIT refined these measures by partnering with leading index manager FTSE to create the FTSE NAREIT U.S. Real Estate Index Series, further improving our ability to follow domestic real estate’s performance.

Financial service companies have capitalized on these efforts, offering consumers fund products designed to track our indexes, including the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index. NAREIT’s work has also spurred competitors like Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s to develop their own real estate indexes, adding to the wealth of informative resources available to investors.

Additionally, NAREIT’s staff conducts its own research to help give us all a clearer picture on true value of property investment and the behavior of the market. One such exercise recently simulated 17 million different portfolio combinations, illustrating REITs’ ability to improve returns and dampen overall portfolio volatility. In some instances, NAREIT commissions third parties to do studies or assists outside researchers with resources for their own projects. For instance, an MIT graduate student recently used NAREIT data to compare the impacts of REITs and direct real estate investment on portfolio performance. His findings threw cold water on some of the most common misconceptions about REITs, concluding that REITs have outperformed direct real estate investment even after leverage is removed from the equation.

However, the parameters of our educational program exceed just number-crunching and pie charts. Portfolio magazine serves as an engaging conduit of real estate knowledge and an informed forum to discuss the industry’s most pressing issues and notable highlights. Similarly, NAREIT’s top-notch conferences and meetings, such as the upcoming REITWeek® in New York this summer, provide the industry’s leaders and brightest minds with high-profile venues to talk shop with other insiders, as well as to introduce the public to the faces of their companies.

As investors continue to boost their levels of sophistication and add to the ever-growing list of investment vehicles before them, NAREIT’s educational mission will remain a focal point of its ongoing agenda.

Martin E. Stein, Jr.
NAREIT Chair
Chairman and CEO
Regency Centers Corporation