Empirical Observations on the Tracking Errors and the Risk-Adjusted Returns of REIT-Based Exchange Traded Funds

In the last few years, investments in exchange traded funds (ETFs) have gained significant popularity among the financial investors. Financial investors have also shown enormous interests in investments in REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). The researcher has determined the tracking errors of REIT based ETFs from the corresponding REIT indexes. The null hypotheses that there are no correlations between the risk adjusted returns of REIT based ETFs and the risk-adjusted returns of the corresponding index have been tested at 0.05 levels of significances. The period used in this study is from April 2010 to March 2016. The results indicate that the mean tracking errors of REIT based ETFs are very small. The findings also indicate that the null hypotheses that there are no correlations between the risk-adjusted returns of REIT based ETFs and the risk adjusted returns of the corresponding index can be rejected at 0.05 levels of significance.