VNQ tracks a broad index that captures much of the US real estate market. The fund holds a deep basket and its market-cap allocations mirror those of our neutral benchmark. The only place it deviates is the persistent sector bias away from specialized REITs in favor of commercial REITs. As a result of excellent portfolio management, at times, the cost of owning VNQ has even been lower than its stated expense ratio. The only blemish we see is the fact that Vanguard discloses holdings monthly rather than daily. However, this is a nuisance at most in a low-turnover fund, and immaterial to many investors. As with peer REIT ETFs, distributions from the fund are taxed as ordinary income. Prior to February 1, 2018 the fund tracked the MSCI US REIT Index. During the period of February 1 to July 24, 2018, the fund tracked the MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Transition Index. Effective July 25, 2018 the fund tracked the MSCI Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index.
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