We examine the extent to which 50,620 global institutional investors’ specialization in publicly traded real estate securities is related to their investment performance. Consistent with the information advantage theory (Merton Journal of Finance 42, 483–510, 1987; Van Nieuwerburgh and Veldkamp Journal of Finance, 64, 1187– 1215, 2009), we show a positive relation between the percentage of the institution’s portfolio invested in real estate securities and the return generated on those securities. Moreover, we present evidence that the institution’s level of active share to real estate securities is positively related to performance. Additionally, we find that the benefits related to specialization are more pronounced for investors specializing in a narrow set of securities that requires a unique set of skills to analyze. Keywords Specialization . Global institutional investor . Information advantage theory. Real estate securities . REIT