AMT vs XLRE: Correlation
How closely do American Tower (AMT) and Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.71, which is strong.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are AMT and XLRE?
On 3 years of weekly data the AMT/XLRE correlation comes out at 0.71, strong. Recent behaviour matches the longer record: 0.65 over 1 year against 0.71 over 3. The 5-year figure is 0.77, and annualized covariance runs at 320.7 %².
XLRE is one of the assets that tracks AMT most closely: it ranks #3 out of the 30 assets we track against AMT. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months XLRE outperformed by 20.5 percentage points (-11.0% for AMT against +9.5% for XLRE). The rolling one-year correlation moved between 0.57 and 0.83 over the past three years, a moderate range. Note the risk asymmetry: AMT runs 1.6 times the annualized volatility of the other leg, so equal-weighting the two is not an equal-risk position.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
AMT vs XLRE: side by side
| AMT (American Tower) | XLRE (Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | -11.0% | +9.5% |
| 5-year return | -30.2% | +11.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 27.1% | 16.7% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.18 | 0.57 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -28.4% | -16.6% |
| Market cap | $81.2B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 24.2 | – |
| Dividend yield | 3.97% | 3.12% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.08% |
| Assets under management | – | $8.6B |
| Sector / category | Real Estate | Sector ETF |
On the fund side, XLRE sits in the Real Estate category at State Street Investment Management, with $8.6B under management, 31 holdings, a 0.08% expense ratio, a 3.12% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | AMT | XLRE |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -25.7% | -26.2% |
| 2023 | +5.4% | +12.4% |
| 2024 | -12.2% | +5.1% |
| 2025 | -0.9% | +2.6% |
| 2026 | +1.1% | +12.4% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Fund exposure
AMT represents 5.49% of XLRE's portfolio, so part of any move in XLRE is AMT itself, and the correlation between them is partly mechanical.
Are AMT and XLRE good diversifiers for each other?
Only partially. A correlation of 0.71 means AMT and XLRE share most of their swings. Pairing them dampens volatility somewhat, but it will not protect against a common drawdown.
FAQ
What is the correlation between AMT and XLRE?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.71 over 3 years, with 0.65 over the last year and 0.77 over 5 years.
Is XLRE a good diversifier for AMT?
Only partially. A correlation of 0.71 means AMT and XLRE share most of their swings. Pairing them dampens volatility somewhat, but it will not protect against a common drawdown.
What does a correlation of 0.71 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.71 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/amt-vs-xlre.json
Embed this badge (it refreshes with the data), with attribution:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/amt-vs-xlre/)
The core API is free. Terms and every endpoint in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: AMT correlations · XLRE correlations
