iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF

iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF (USRT) is an index fund that holds U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs). REITs are companies that own property and pay out much of their rental income to shareholders. The fund tracks the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs 40 Act Capped Index, which leaves out mortgage, timber and infrastructure REITs. Its 0.08% expense ratio ranked second-lowest of nine similar funds, whose average was 0.22%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, USRT returned +8.5%, 2nd of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +3.1%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-24.4%); its best was 2021 (+43.3%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 31% (Dec 31, 2021 to Oct 14, 2022), recovered by Sep 16, 2024.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 124 securities; the ten largest made up 49.24% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $674.8M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.29%, +3.23%, +2.10%.

USRT tracks the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs 40 Act Capped Index. The index is run by FTSE International, which is independent of BlackRock and decides which companies the index includes and how much each one counts for. It covers U.S.-listed equity REITs, meaning companies that own real estate rather than lend against it. It excludes infrastructure, mortgage and timber REITs. As of April 30, 2026, the index held 127 REITs.

The index caps its largest companies so the fund meets the diversification rules of the Investment Company Act of 1940, which is the "40 Act" in its name. At each quarterly rebalance, no single company can exceed 22.5%, and all companies weighing more than 4.5% can't add up to more than 22.5% combined. Between reviews, those limits loosen to 24% and 4.8%. As of July 31, 2026, the largest holding, Welltower, made up about 9% of the fund, and the top 10 made up about 49%.

BlackRock uses representative sampling, which means the fund may hold a sample of the index's stocks instead of every one. It must keep at least 80% of its net assets in index components. It can use derivatives, but as of July 31, 2026 it held only one tiny futures position. It may lend out securities worth up to one-third of its total assets. Portfolio turnover was 12%.

• USRT charges 0.08% a year, versus an average of 0.22% for the similar funds below (2nd of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $8 in the first year and $103 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It adds a low-cost slice of U.S. property-owning companies to a portfolio, but its large swings make it a complement rather than a core holding.

USRT gives a portfolio exposure to commercial real estate and pays dividends quarterly. Its trailing 12-month yield was 2.78% as of October 27, 2026. It is also cheap: in the SEC's standard $10,000 example, costs come to $8 after one year and $103 after 10 years. The price history used here starts in June 2020, so it doesn't cover the 2008 crisis. Even so, the prospectus shows a 27.32% loss in the first quarter of 2020. In the 2022 bear market the fund fell about 31% from its peak. It took roughly 23 months, until September 2024, to recover. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at -24.4%. Anyone who had to sell shares during that stretch would have locked in losses. Over the 10 years to December 31, 2025, it returned 5.57% a year, compared with 14.29% for the Russell 3000. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.