May 2004 IBM, the country's largest 401(k) plan sponsor, introduces a REIT index fund as a distinct investment choice to its plan. An IBM spokesperson is quoted as saying that the new REIT index fund gives its plan participants "the opportunity to invest in what we consider to be a separate asset class which increasingly seems to have a low correlation to other more traditional asset classes."
Read more about the role of REITs in target-date funds.