NAREIT Allies With Index Provider

In a bid to make investment in real estate investment trusts more attractive, especially to institutional capital, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts has joined forced with index provider FTSE Group.The Washington-based trade group is transferring the management of its REIT-related indices to FTSE, which manages a number of global indices. At a news briefing in New York, Mark Makepeace, chief executive officer of the FTSE Group, said he expects the FTSE NAREIT US Real Estate Index Series to "provide unparalleled benchmarks spanning all sectors of the REIT industry" and to "foster the growth of tailored investment products" related to REITs. FTSE said it plans to maintain the continuity of the indices while "modernizing and providing additional facilities." Of 18 REIT indices that FTSE will maintain, 14 will be real-time, a feature that is expected to appeal to exchange-traded funds. Steven Wechsler, president and CEO of NAREIT, said he expects interest in the U.S.-style REIT model to grow as people worldwide look to invest in real estate on a liquid, securitized basis.