Michael Torres created the Wilshire Real Estate Securities Index in 1991 to serve as a proxy for direct real estate investment by institutions. The index is widely recognized as the industry's performance benchmark. Michael has over 25 years of experience in real estate and securities research, and is currently CEO of Adelante Capital Management, a California-based investment advisor that specializes in real estate securities that seeks real estate returns for investors by owning property stocks. In this Opalesque.TV interview, Michael talks about how owning public real estate securities provides a look into the property market, yielding transparency of the properties and also the transparency of balance sheets, an advantage not shared by the private real estate market, along with liquidity that allow investors to re-balance portfolios. He also discusses his personal experience as a professional real estate investor during the period of crisis and drastic 62% decline of the REIT market from their 2007 peak through Q4 2008. Michael describes his net asset value approach as "buying buildings for clients", a strategy that currently yields enormous opportunities as the U.S. real estate market has rebounded to within 5% of its previous 2007 highs and still has room for future growth.