Executives in the REIT industry have gone on the offensive in an effort to persuade pension funds and other large investors to put more money with public companies and less with private-equity firms.

Executives with the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts say they have new data that show investments in REITs outperform private-equity firms. Armed with this data, they have stepped up their efforts to get institutional investors to switch allocations.

REIT proponents say investors have been misled into thinking private-equity funds are generally better opportunities than public markets.

Wall Street Journal