IPD and BVI collaborate to launch first full German Spezialfonds Index

In collaboration with the German fund association BVI, IPD (Investment Property Databank GmbH) has just published a full IPD / BVI German Quarterly Spezialfonds Index (SFIX) for the first time, thereby increasing market transparency for institutional real estate fund investments.

The new index measures the performance of German Spezialfonds and public real estate funds for institutional investors, not only in the current quarter, but also - and for the first time – back to December 2006 on a quarterly basis.

For the third quarter of 2012 the SFIX covered 110 funds worth €27.5 billion in terms of net asset value, implying a market coverage of 60%. In addition to the overall SFIX index, the data assembled allows for the production of regional and sector sub-indices, grouping the funds covered by investment focus. The SFIX measures the total return of the contributing funds at NAV level, net of leverage, liquidity and fund costs, and is published six weeks after the end of each quarter.

Results to September 2012
For the third quarter of 2012, the SFIX recorded a total return of 0.2%. Those funds with at least 70% of their real estate in Germany achieved a return of 0.8%, significantly better than funds predominantly investing in the rest of Europe, which returned -0.1%. Differentiated by type of use, funds invested mainly in retail properties returned 1.0%, significantly outperforming office-focused funds, which returned -0.1%. Sector-diversified funds stood in between with a return of 0.4%.

Over the past 12 months, the ranking of the sub-indices is identical. Over the last five years, SFIX Germany funds again lead the field with an annualised return of 4.3%, while the performance of diversified funds at 3.6% surpasses that of office funds, which returned only 2.5%.

"With the release of the IPD / BVI German Quarterly Spezialfonds Index SFIX and its five-year history to a quarterly frequency, IPD is fulfilling the desire of many investors and fund managers for a reliable, meaningful and timely point of reference for these funds" says Daniel Piazolo, managing director of IPD Investment Property Databank GmbH.

"Working in collaboration with the BVI fund association is helping to reduce the data handling effort for most of the index participants. We therefore expect a further increase in the level of market coverage, which already lies at an impressive 60%", Piazolo continues.