The curated database of hedge funds that publish investor letters. Research by geography, strategy, and schools of thought.
| # | Fund | Strategy | Style | Geography | AUM | Latest Letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Virtus Duff & Phelps Global Real Estate Securities Fund delivered a positive net return of 1.35% for the first quarter of 2026, outperforming its benchmark index. Global markets during the quarter navigated intense geopolitical turbulence, notably U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, which caused temporary risk-off moves and elevated oil prices. Despite these challenges, listed real estate exhibited resilience, driven by strong performance in data centers, specialty, and healthcare sectors, while residential and retail sectors lagged. Regionally, North American exposure aided results, whereas Western Europe and Asia Pacific underperformed. The managers highlight that global real estate trades at highly compelling valuations compared to broad equities, with fundamental improvements setting the stage for continued outperformance. Furthermore, the public REIT structure provides crucial daily liquidity, avoiding the distribution and redemption challenges currently plaguing private real estate and private equity markets. The portfolio remains positioned to capture this valuation gap closure.
Global listed real estate is poised for strong relative outperformance due to historic valuation discounts relative to broader equities, strengthening underlying property sector fundamentals, and the distinct liquidity advantages of public REITs over private alternatives.
Listed global real estate is expected to continue outperforming broader global equity markets throughout 2026 as valuations recover. The structural tailwinds of public liquidity, improving sector cash flows, and stable transaction conditions are anticipated to sustain the closure of the sector's historical valuation gap.
As of Mar 31, 2026
Geoffrey P. Dybas, CFA, is an executive managing director and senior portfolio manager at Duff & Phelps Investment Management and heads the Global Real Estate Securities team. He has been with the firm since 1995 and has been managing REIT strategies since 1998. Dybas has industry experience starting in 1989 and holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Frank J. Haggerty, Jr., CFA, is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Duff & Phelps Investment Management with industry experience beginning in 1996 and fund management experience since 2007. He holds an MBA in Financial Analysis from DePaul University and has earned multiple Lipper Fund Awards in 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2023.
The Fund seeks attractive long-term returns by providing global real estate securities exposure, emphasizing companies with revenues driven by recurring rental income. The highly experienced portfolio team applies a disciplined, bottom-up investment process, focusing on high-quality commercial real estate owner/operators. The fund pursues the stable cash flows offered by contractual rental revenues, emphasizing REITs with strong management teams focused on long-term value creation. It provides exposure to the lower correlations the global real estate market has historically exhibited to traditional stocks and bonds. The investment strategy employs a high-conviction, lower-turnover portfolio of 50-70 securities, striving to benefit from valuation inefficiencies and the historically higher long-term risk-adjusted returns of rental property companies over non-rental companies.
Lead Portfolio Manager
Geoffrey P. Dybas, CFA & Frank J. Haggerty, Jr., CFA
Managing Partner
Moderate Conviction Bullish
Market Conviction
The fund shows moderate-high conviction (0.65). It features concentrated top-tier holdings like Welltower at 9.33% and Prologis at 6.64%, alongside explicit sector overweight choices like data centers, though it remains a globally diversified vehicle.
Growth Outlook
The market outlook is 0.75. The managers highlight appealing valuations and improving fundamentals, explicitly projecting that listed global real estate will outperform general equity markets throughout the remainder of 2026.
Risk Appetite
Risk appetite is scored at 0.75, as evidenced by the fund maintaining high-conviction overweights in growth-oriented, capital-intensive segments like global data centers and healthcare REITs.
Capital Deployment
Capital deployment is rated 0.50 as the letter focuses on the retrospective performance of existing holdings and does not report changes in cash balance or active net purchasing decisions.
Forward Guidance
Forward guidance is scored at 0.50 because the managers present a general constructive expectation for valuation gap closure but do not announce clear, near-term changes in portfolio construction or asset allocation.
Language Signal
The language signal is moderately positive (0.70). The document uses highly constructive language regarding REIT valuations and liquidity advantages, balanced by sober macro risk terminology regarding energy supply shocks and central bank policy.
Perceived Risk
Perceived risk is scored at 0.65. While the outlook is constructive, the managers clearly identify and detail macro risks including Middle East geopolitics, inflation, rate cycles, and liquidity strain in private asset structures.
Opportunity Density
Opportunity density is rated 0.70. The managers express that listed real estate currently offers highly compelling entry points with a distinct discount relative to historic averages and private real estate markets.
Time Horizon
The fund focuses on a multi-year time horizon (0.75), aligning positions to long-term secular trends (such as digital infrastructure) and expecting valuation re-rating trends to unfold steadily throughout 2026.
Top Conviction Themes
Key Catalysts
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