Thomson Reuters, a global financial information provider, and Global Property Research, a Netherlands-based specialist in real estate indices, have teamed up to launch a series of highly-liquid property indices designed for ETF adoption.
Thomson Reuters has partnered with Global Property Research to launch a series of real estate indices specifically designed for adoption by exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Created specifically to be tracked by ETFs looking to offer investors exposure to real estate markets globally, the Thomson Reuters/Global Property Research (TR/GPR) Indices aim to provide a more investable and tradable solution than currently available elsewhere.
The new suite of real estate indices provides broad global diversification, including emerging markets. The TR/GPR Global 100 Index is composed of the 100 most liquid real estate stocks worldwide.
Furthermore, three regional variants for increased focus are also available; the TR/GPR Americas 40 Index, TR/GPR APAC 30 Index and TR/GPR EMEA 30 Index. Customised indices to reflect a particular mandate or strategy can also be designed.
The TR/GPR indices can be used to build real estate ETFs that closely represent the property market, to track real estate performance or simply for benchmarking purposes. In addition to high liquidity, customers benefit from transparent, rules-based methodology and independently-calculated indices, ensuring that the underlying stocks respect the publicly available index rules. The constituents of the TR/GPR indices focus on companies involved predominantly in real estate investment, rather than pure property development.
Commenting on the launch, Jamie Robinson, head of commercial strategy & business development for indices at Thomson Reuters, said: “Real estate has been a challenging market since 2008, but last year we saw the first signs of growth in US and Asia and more recently, this year, in Europe.”
Robinson added: “With a potential revival in the sector, combined with rising rental incomes, ETF providers are looking closely for investment opportunities for their clients in this high yielding sector. However, feedback from the market reveals a gap for a truly investable index that allows ETF investors to participate in property investment; the TR/GPR suite of indices will help create those opportunities.”
The indices will compete against the widely-tracked FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Series and the Dow Jones Real Estate Index range, as well as REIT indices from S&P and MSCI.
Year to date returns from property have exceeded equity investments according to the TR/GPR indices:
| Name | % 3m | % 6m | % YTD | % 1y |
| STOXX 50 EUROPE GROSS RETURN (EUR) | 1.33 | 4.96 | 4.07 | -4.12 |
| TR/GPR Europe 30 EUR | 5.43 | 4.99 | 10.65 | -5.41 |
| TR GLOBAL TOTAL RETURN (USD) | 3.38 | 3.47 | 9.47 | -5.84 |
| TR/GPR Global 100 USD | 8.36 | 8.48 | 16.01 | 3.08 |
| MSCI AC APAC TOTAL RETURN (USD) | 1.89 | 2.28 | 10.11 | -7.18 |
| TR/GPR APAC 30 USD | 9.67 | 6.70 | 21.38 | 0.78 |
| S&P 500 TOTAL RETURN (USD) | 7.18 | 10.46 | 12.31 | 5.79 |
| TR/GPR Americas 40 USD | 8.11 | 13.16 | 13.78 | 19.88 |
Source: Thomson Reuters, data as at 1 May 2012