10 Questions With Real Estate Fund Manager Michael Schatt

Real estate funds have been top performers of late, with the sector up an average of 10.5% for the year, compared with the 0.17% drop in U.S. diversified equity funds, a broad measure of diversified domestic equity funds, according to Lipper.

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To get more insight into reasons to invest in real estate funds -- other than their recent performance -- and to understand where real estate stocks are headed, we spoke with one veteran, Michael Schatt, who has been the portfolio manager of the (PHRAX Quote)Phoenix-Duff & Phelps Real Estate Fund since 1997.

1. Let's start with the basics. Why put a real estate fund in your portfolio? What role does it play? ...