Fidelity has unveiled a new fund that invests in global real estate securitites - a market the firm believes is still in its infancy.

Fidelity Investments is rolling out a new fund to invest in US and international real estate securities, just before real estate becomes its own financial sector. 

“The global listed real estate securities market is an area where we've seen strong client demand and increased investor focus,” said Steve Buller, who is managing the Fidelity Advisor Global Real Estate Fund. “Roughly half the opportunity set for real estate is located outside the US and, given that real estate companies are inherently driven by local supply and demand drivers, a global approach can make sense in identifying the best opportunities around the world.”

Buller has managed a global real estate strategy for the Canadian market for the last decade, the Fidelity Real Estate Investment Portfolio since 1998, and a US REIT Fund for Japanese investors since 2003.  

“In addition to offering potential diversification benefits, many areas of the global real estate securities market are still in their infancy and may offer compelling secular or long-term, growth opportunities,” he added. 

The fund launch comes ahead of the Global Industry Classification Standard's move to elevate real estate out of the financials sector to become its own sector on August 31, Fidelity said. This is the first time that GICS, a four-level classification system developed by MSCI and Standard & Poor's, has created a new sector since the framework was established in 1999. 

Fidelity has other real estate mutual funds and ETFs, including: the Fidelity Advisor Real Estate Fund Class A; the Fidelity Advisor Real Estate Income Fund Class A; the Fidelity Advisor International Real Estate Fund Class A; the Fidelity MSCI Real Estate Index ETF; the Fidelity Real Estate Index Fund; the Fidelity Real Estate Investment Portfolio; and the Fidelity Select Construction and Housing Portfolio.