PIMCO DC Practice’s Defined Contribution Consulting Support and Trends survey found the majority of investment firms believe retirement portfolios should include a real estate allocation. The survey was designed to help clients understand the consulting services available within the defined contribution (DC) marketplace, and received responses from 28 traditional investment consulting and managed account firms.

“In the wake of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, we were interested in learning what services investment consulting firms are providing to clients and how these firms were advising clients on allocation,” says Stacy Schaus, PIMCO DC Practice senior vice president and DC strategist.

The survey showed that 41 percent of the respondents believe real estate would add the most value within a DC plan, either as a core investment option or as a component of a custom target strategy. Additionally, 79 percent of the respondents believe in offering a single strategy that combines real estate, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), absolute return and other non-traditional asset classes.

[FAST FACT] Apartment REIT AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE: AVB) joined the S&P 500 Index Jan. 9. The second-largest self-storage REIT, U-Store-It Trust (NYSE: YSI), was also added to Standard & Poor’s 500 Constituents Index at the close of trading Dec. 19, 2006. There are currently 11 REITs in the S&P 500.