FTSE eyes emerging markets

Demand for real estate investment in emerging markets has caught the interest of investors, and the FTSE Epra/Nareit Emerging Markets index series will allow them, for the first time, to track the development of these markets.

"We believe that Reits and other listed real estate will take off in emerging markets as they have in most developed countries, because of the overwhelming economic benefits or their structures," says Philip Charls, Epra’s chief executive.

FTSE, Epra and Nareit jointly developed the methodology for the emerging market indices. Like the existing developed market property indices, criteria for inclusion in the emerging markets series will include minimum free-float market capitalization, liquidity and ebitda contribution from relevant real estate activities. Constituents are required to publish an audited annual report in English.

"The emerging markets index series is an important step in a continuing effort to provide investors with access to the entire set of global real estate investment using the efficiency of publicly traded real estate securities," says Steven Wechsler, president and chief executive of Nareit.