After two lackluster years, the EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index had a phenomenal year in 2003, posting a 40.7 percent total return with an equity market capitalization of $360.6 billion. The Global Real Estate Index is comprised of three series: North America (including Canada and U.S.), Asia (Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore) and Europe (U.K., Netherlands, France, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Finland and Denmark). A total of 231 companies are listed on the index, 116 in the North America series, 45 in the Asia series, and 70 in the Europe series. The Global Real Estate Index is a joint venture created by European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and Euronext.

2003 EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Total Returns

Source: NAREIT and EPRA

The North America series, which comprises 56 percent of the Global Real Estate Index composite, posted a 37.7 percent total return (U.S. companies constitute over 53 percent of the global composite). Asia, the second largest series at 23 percent of the global composite, posted a 44.8 percent total return. Australian, Japanese and Hong Kong companies compose 8.6 percent, 7.2 percent, and 6.7 percent, respectively, of the global composite. Europe, which comprises 21 percent of the global composite, posted a 44.7 percent total return. Europe’s series is dominated by the U.K., which makes up 10.4 percent of the global composite.

2003 EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Jan. 1999-Dec. 2003

Source: NAREIT and EPRA

The Global Real Estate Index composite, since inception in 1999 to year-end 2003, is up 58.4 percent. The North America series is leading at 101.4 percent, while Asia rose 14.5 percent and Europe posted an 80.9 percent gain. The North America series, currently calculated daily, is slated to offer real-time calculations in March 2004. This new facet of the North America series will result in ample opportunities for the development of new products, according to Chuck DiRocco, NAREIT’s vice president of research and investor education. Recently, the real-time Europe series of the Global Real Estate Index provided an exclusive license to create exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through AXA Investment Managers. AXA Investment Managers became the first issuer in Europe to announce an ETF on the real estate asset class; that ETF will be listed on the Euronext stock exchange.

EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index $360.56 Billion Market Capitalization As of Jan. 1 2004

Source: NAREIT and EPRA