The nontraded REITs attracting the most capital are not always the ones reporting the highest historical returns. Comparing both measures gives advisors a clearer starting point for further research.
Blue Vault examined Q2 2026 capital raising alongside trailing 12-month total returns through June 30, 2026. The comparison includes 29 REITs classified as open offerings, drawn from 43 active REITs represented for the quarter. The other 14 were classified as closed to new investment. Returns use Class I for 28 REITs and Class A-I for JLL Income Property Trust, which does not have a reported Class I trailing return in the reviewed data. Share-class fees and returns may differ.
Among the 10 largest capital raisers in that group, one-year returns ranged from 4.45% to 11.79%. Five funds also appeared among the 10 highest-returning REITs.
Where the Capital Went
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust raised approximately $1.22 billion during Q2 2026 and reported a 10.03% trailing one-year Class I total return.
Blue Owl Real Estate Net Lease Trust followed with approximately $808.5 million raised and an 11.50% return. Ares Real Estate Income Trust raised $646.5 million and returned 11.79%.
Together, these three REITs raised approximately $2.67 billion during the quarter. Each reported a double-digit trailing one-year Class I return.
| REIT | Q2 2026 Capital Raised |
One-Year Total Return |
|---|---|---|
| Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust | $1,219.7M | 10.03% |
| Blue Owl Real Estate Net Lease Trust | $808.5M | 11.50% |
| Ares Real Estate Income Trust | $646.5M | 11.79% |
| Hines Global Income Trust | $341.0M | 5.74% |
| Fortress Net Lease REIT | $305.8M | 10.50% |
| North Haven Net REIT | $230.8M | 9.29% |
| J.P. Morgan Real Estate Income Trust | $174.1M | 6.24% |
| JLL Income Property Trust | $171.0M | 4.45% Class A-I |
| Ares Industrial Real Estate Income Trust | $145.7M | 7.42% |
| Invesco Commercial Real Estate Finance Trust | $131.5M | 7.57% |
Source: Blue Vault’s Alts Intelligence Portal. Ranked by combined reported Q2 2026 capital raise among 29 REITs classified as open offerings. Returns are Class I except JLL Income Property Trust, which uses Class A-I. Fundraising amounts are REIT-wide, combine reported public and private fundraising amounts, and are not net of repurchases. Returns are through June 30, 2026. Share-class fees and returns may differ. Rankings do not measure overall investment quality. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Strong fundraising and strong historical returns appeared together for several funds. The rankings nevertheless differed.
Hines Global Income Trust, for example, ranked fourth in fundraising within this comparison, raising $341.0 million, while reporting a 5.74% one-year Class I return. North Haven Net REIT raised approximately $230.8 million and returned 9.29%.
Across the 10 capital raisers shown, the difference between the highest and lowest displayed one-year returns was 7.34 percentage points. This comparison includes JLL’s Class A-I return alongside the other funds’ Class I returns.
Which REITs Led on One-Year Returns?
Reordering the comparison by return puts Sculptor Diversified Real Estate Income Trust first, with a 13.44% trailing one-year Class I return and $63.2 million raised during Q2.
Cohen & Steers Income Opportunities REIT followed at 12.67%, with $64.4 million raised. New Mountain Net Lease Trust ranked third at 12.23%, with approximately $48.9 million raised.
| REIT | One-Year Class I Total Return |
Q2 2026 Capital Raised |
|---|---|---|
| Sculptor Diversified Real Estate Income Trust | 13.44% | $63.2M |
| Cohen & Steers Income Opportunities REIT | 12.67% | $64.4M |
| New Mountain Net Lease Trust | 12.23% | $48.9M |
| Ares Real Estate Income Trust | 11.79% | $646.5M |
| Blue Owl Real Estate Net Lease Trust | 11.50% | $808.5M |
| Fortress Net Lease REIT | 10.50% | $305.8M |
| Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust | 10.03% | $1,219.7M |
| Starwood Credit Real Estate Income Trust | 9.41% | $27.7M |
| North Haven Net REIT | 9.29% | $230.8M |
| EQT Exeter Real Estate Income Trust | 9.21% | $8.4M |
Source: Blue Vault’s Alts Intelligence Portal. Ranked by reported trailing 12-month total return through June 30, 2026, among 29 REITs classified as open offerings, using Class I where available and Class A-I for JLL Income Property Trust. All 10 REITs shown have Class I returns. Capital raised is the combined REIT-wide quarterly amount, rounded to the nearest $0.1 million. Returns for other share classes may differ. This ranking does not measure risk-adjusted performance or overall investment quality. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Five REITs appear in both top-10 lists: Ares Real Estate Income Trust, Blue Owl Real Estate Net Lease Trust, Fortress Net Lease REIT, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, and North Haven Net REIT.
Blackstone, the largest capital raiser in the comparison, ranked seventh by one-year return. Sculptor, the return leader, raised substantially less capital than any of the 10 fundraising leaders shown.
The comparison demonstrates why advisors should examine both measures. It does not establish that funds raising less capital generally outperform those raising more.
What the Two Measures Tell Advisors
Capital raising measures fundraising activity. It shows how much capital a REIT reported raising during the quarter. It does not establish why investors committed that capital or whether the fund is a suitable investment.
Total return measures historical investment performance. The figures here represent trailing 12-month total returns, rather than current distribution rates. A distribution rate alone does not describe an investor’s total return.
The periods also differ. Q2 fundraising covers three months, while the return figures cover the 12 months ending June 30, 2026. Some fundraising occurred before the full trailing-year result was available. This comparison therefore cannot establish whether performance drove fundraising.
Questions to Investigate Beyond the Rankings
Before using either ranking to evaluate a REIT, advisors should investigate:
- What contributed to the return? Examine income, valuation changes, and the fund’s reported return methodology.
- How comparable are the strategies? Property sectors, equity versus credit exposure, geography, and leverage may differ.
- Which share class would the client own? Fees and expenses can produce different returns across classes. The share classes shown may not represent the client’s experience.
- What happened after repurchases? Gross fundraising does not show net capital flows or how much requested liquidity was fulfilled.
- How durable is the result? Compare the one-year figure with longer-term performance, distribution coverage, and portfolio developments where available.
These questions help turn a ranking into a more useful due diligence process.
Continue the Analysis in Blue Vault.
Use Blue Vault’s independent research to investigate the measures behind these comparisons, including performance, distribution coverage, leverage, and shareholder repurchases.
Sources & Methodology
This analysis uses data from Blue Vault’s Alts Intelligence Portal for Q2 2026.
The reviewed data include 43 active REITs: 29 classified as open offerings and 14 classified as closed offerings. The rankings include only the 29 open offerings. “Active” describes fund status; “open” and “closed” describe offering status. A REIT closed to new investment may continue operating. Offering classifications reflect Q2 2026 rather than necessarily the publication date. Of the 29 open offerings, 28 have reported trailing 12-month Class I total returns. JLL Income Property Trust uses its reported Class A-I return as an explicitly identified substitute. These share classes are not assumed to have identical fee structures. Other available share classes may have different returns.
Quarterly capital raised combines reported public and private fundraising amounts at the REIT level. These figures are not share-class-specific and are not reduced by shareholder repurchases. Capital raised is presented in millions, rounded to the nearest $0.1 million. Missing fundraising values are not interpreted as zero.
The fundraising ranking orders the 29 open offerings by quarterly capital raised. The return ranking orders the same group by the selected share-class returns described above. The 7.34 percentage-point return spread uses the unrounded highest and lowest selected returns among the 10 fundraising leaders, rounded to two decimal places.
Fundraising covers Q2 2026; returns cover the trailing 12 months through June 30, 2026. The October 20, 2026 publication date does not indicate that the underlying data are current through October. The analysis does not adjust returns for differences in strategy, leverage, liquidity, or risk and does not establish a causal relationship between fundraising and performance.
