Syfe REIT+ vs REIT ETFs: What’s The Difference?

July 16, 2025

Investors looking for passive income are often drawn to real estate investment trusts (REITs), thanks to their attractive dividend yields and relatively low entry price points. But although REITs are generally seen as a resilient asset class, not all REITs are created equal.

This raises the question, how can investors ever know what the best options are for S-REITs?

Savvy investors know that it’s more prudent to own a portfolio of REITs from different sectors, rather than just a few individual REITs. There are several three options for building a diversified portfolio of REITs:

Buying multiple REITs through their broker
Investing in a REIT exchange traded fund (ETF)
Investing in Syfe REIT+

The first option is likely to incur expensive brokerage fees given the multiple transactions necessary to achieve a fully diversified portfolio.

For the average investor, they may be better off choosing the second and third option. But what are the differences between REIT ETFs and Syfe REIT+?

Overview of REIT ETFs

A REIT ETF is a basket of REITs that tracks the performance of a specific REIT index. There are three REIT ETFs currently listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

Phillip SGX APAC Dividend Leaders REIT ETF
NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan REIT ETF
Lion-Phillip S-REIT ETF

Source: Chartbook: SREITs & Property Trusts, SGX Research, Q1 2025

As the table above shows, the three REIT ETFs track different indices. The geographical breakdown for each REIT ETF differs as well and reflects their respective investment mandates.

Overview of Syfe REIT+

Syfe REIT+ is a portfolio of 20 blue-chip REITs the likes of Mapletree Commercial Trust, Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Mall Trust, and more.

Top 5 holdings of Syfe REIT+, as of 15 July 2025

REIT+ is not an ETF. When you invest in the REIT+ portfolio, your funds are used to purchase each of these 20 Singapore REITs. In essence, you get to own actual units of these REITs. This is different from a REIT ETF where your funds are used to purchase that particular ETF, which traded on SGX.

Additionally, Syfe REIT+ aims to closely replicate the performance of the SGX iEdge S-REIT Leaders index. As you cannot invest directly in an index, products like REIT+, which track an index, provide an indirect investment option.

The iEdge S-REIT Leaders index is a free-float, market-cap-weighted index that measures the performance of some of the largest and most liquid REITs in Singapore. In line with the index, the largest sector allocations for REIT+ are industrial, retail, and office REITs.

Sector allocation for Syfe REIT+, as of 15 July 2025

One thing to note is that within an index, more weight will be allocated to a sector that does well, and lesser weight to sectors that do not perform. The index is rebalanced twice a year in April and September, and REIT+ will follow suit accordingly.

Syfe REIT+ vs REIT ETFs

Typically, investors look at three metrics when assessing the efficiency of an index investment: tracking error, total expense ratio, and liquidity.

Here’s how REIT+ compares with REIT ETFs:

Metric	Syfe REIT+	REIT ETFs
Tracking Error (Against Benchmark)	Tracks closely (<50bps)	Required
CDP & Brokerage Account	Not required	Required
Automatic Dividend Reinvestment	✅	❌
Brokerage + Transaction Costs	None	Payable (~0.20% per trade)
Management Fees	0.25% – 0.65% p.a.	0.55% to 1.1%
Liquidity	Based on bid-ask spreads of 20 REITs	0.28% – 0.55%
Dividend Distribution Frequency	Quarterly	Semi-annually
Time and Effort	Low	Medium

Source: Syfe data & SGX Chartbook: SREITs & Property Trusts, Q1 2025

Tracking error

Tracking error is a measure of how consistent a portfolio’s return is with that of its index or benchmark. A large tracking error may mean excessive trading costs or issues relating to fund management.

REIT+ has a slim difference in one-year return against the iEdge S-REIT Leaders index. This reflects a very minimal tracking error compared to the REIT ETFs.

Total expense ratio

Total expense ratio (TER) relates to cost. As an investor, you want to keep your costs as low as possible to earn higher returns.

The three REIT ETFs have considerably high TERs. For comparison, the SPDR Straits Times Index ETF (also SGX listed) has a TER of only 0.3%. Moreover, the TER does not include all the other fees that an investor still has to pay, such as brokerage and other transaction costs, trustee fee, and SGX trading and clearing fees.

REIT+ on the other hand, comes with all-inclusive management fees. This means no brokerage fees, and no sales or withdrawal fees.

Tier	Blue	Black	Gold	Platinum	Diamond
Total Assets	No min.	S$50K+	S$250K+	S$1M+	S$5M+
REIT+ Fee	0.65%	0.55%	0.45%	0.35%	0.25%

Liquidity

The smaller the bid-ask spread, the more liquid an ETF. And the more liquid an ETF, the higher its daily trading volume, which makes it easier and faster to buy or sell an ETF.

All three REIT ETFs don’t have very high liquidity. For comparison, the average bid-ask spread of the SPDR Straits Times Index ETF is around 0.11%.

Liquidity and bid-ask spreads are less of a concern for Syfe REIT+ because the underlying REITs are bought directly. As an added advantage, the underlying REITs are also some of the most liquid REITs in Singapore.

How should investors choose?

For a broad geographical allocation, the Phillip APAC Dividend Leaders REIT ETF or the NikkoAM REIT ETF offer additional exposure to REITs from Asia Pacific, including Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and other countries.

For investors who prefer a pure Singapore REIT fund that allows them to invest in a diversified basket of S-REITs at one go, they may consider Syfe REIT+.

Both have their merits, but a key advantage of choosing REIT+ is that investors get not just a well-constructed portfolio but also more cost savings.

Why REIT+?

REIT+ is an effective option for investors who wish to build up their REIT holdings through regular contributions. Because there is no minimum investment amount and no brokerage fee for each transaction, you can choose to invest any amount you prefer, at any time you want.

A selling fee is also applicable when you sell through your broker or RSP. With REIT+, however, you can withdraw your investments anytime at no charge.

Another standout feature of REIT+ is that your dividends are automatically reinvested for you at no extra charge. Based on Syfe’s calculations, dividend reinvestment can add an additional 0.5% in returns for you each year. This almost covers Syfe’s tiered fees of 0.4% to 0.65%.

With a REIT ETF, automatic dividend reinvestment is not available. You will need to take your dividends and reinvest them on your own. Do note that this counts as another transaction, so brokerage fees will again apply.

A cost-effective option for S-REITs

Singapore REITs have long been an investor favourite. And with interest rates expected to come down, S-REITs look especially attractive from both a yield and capital gains perspective.

If you’re looking for an efficient yet low-cost S-REIT portfolio, Syfe REIT+ stacks up better than REIT ETFs:

Well-constructed portfolio with minimal tracking error, lower costs and better liquidity
No brokerage fees
No minimum investment amount
Automatic dividend reinvestment

Ready to get started? Explore the Syfe REIT+ portfolio and begin investing in Singapore REITs today to enjoy 3 months of fee waivers on Managed Portfolios (including REIT+) and up to S$100 cash credits on Brokerage.

Explore REIT+