REITWise 2012®: NAREIT's Law, Accounting & Finance Conference® brings together REIT executives and leading service providers that support their legal, financial and accounting needs. Registration is now available online for this important event, which will be held March 21 to 23 in Hollywood, Fla. Complete conference information, including a detailed schedule of events, is also available now on REIT.com. Visit the REITWise 2012 home page to learn more and register today.

Senior level hiring shows significant trends, according to a recently released industry-wide survey offering predictions and insights into hiring trends within the commercial real estate sector. The 2012 Real Estate Hiring Trends Survey Report included information gathered from more than 900 real estate professionals and employers, principals, top-line managers and human resource executives. Of the respondents, 64 percent said they witnessed a trend in senior level hiring: 37 percent reported that senior level positions have not been replaced, while 27 percent replied that senior level positions were replaced by employees with less experience.

Lipper's 2011 real estate fund rankings are now available on REIT.com. This ranking shows domestic, global and international real estate funds based on one-year, three-year, five-year and 10-year performance for the period ending Dec. 31, 2011.

BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, has launched a new bank-maintained collective trust fund for the U.S. defined contribution (DC) market with a substantial allocation to global REITs. The Strategic Completion Fund, which funded in September 2011, also includes allocations to TIPS and commodities to provide exposure to three inflation-sensitive asset classes in a single fund. The REIT allocation is benchmarked to the FTSE/EPRA NAREIT Developed Real Estate Index. The fund is being used by plan sponsors as a stand-alone investment option within defined contribution plans and is intended to supplement a diversified portfolio. It is also being used as a component of target date funds, currently the most widely used investment vehicle in the DC space. BlackRock, which introduced the first target date fund, has utilized REITs in their proprietary target date funds, LifePath®, since 2006. For additional details, visit blackrock.com.