REAL ESTATE - "INREV works hard to persuade fund managers to provide more comprehensive data, but investors also have a role to play in encouraging managers to do this as well," INREV CEO Lisette van Doorn spelled out to IPE Real Estate at the MIPIM convention in Cannes last week.

"It's a joint effort on all sides," she said.

"The reality is that the number of funds in the index has increased from 77 to 144 in two years - faster than in many other direct property investment indices," she continued. The index now represents €140bn of assets under management.

Van Doorn stressed that INREV's task is to "communicate and facilitate."

She also set out INREV's main initiatives for the coming year. One will be the training and education of members, for example in the implementation of the recently published reporting guidelines via workshops and other media.

Van Doorn agreed that access to sufficient resources is a key challenge faced by the industry in the implementation of the reporting guidelines, but she stressed that: "one of the purposes of the initiative is to streamline the reporting process which should make life easier for the fund manager.

She added: "If the fund manager has a good reason not to adhere to the guidelines that is fine, as long as he makes an explanation to this effect."

INREV will also be working on a standard definition for net asset value (NAV). She pointed out that at present there is limited consistency in the way NAV is calculated by different unlisted real estate fund managers.

"We are currently consulting with members to define the basis for the index going forward," she said. "The standard definition for NAV will be ready by the end of the summer."

INREV also intends to launch a dedicated lobbying function before the summer, but Van Doorn wouldn't be drawn on details.