The latest in the index fund craze is a series of three listed New Zealand and Australian property funds.
New Zealand Guardian Trust has announced it hopes to have three funds on the market by the end of the month.
Chief investment manager Michael Good says the New Zealand fund will track the top five listed property securities, the Australian one will be linked to the top 10 property stocks across the Tasman, and the third fund will be a mixture of the two.
The funds will track two newly created property indices that will be managed and branded by SBC Warburg.
Good says property index funds are complementary to the range of listed and unlisted equity funds that are already on offer.
"These are the last piece in the jigsaw," he says.
Property index funds will be a more tax effective and flexible option for investing in property than is currently available through unlisted property trusts or direct investment in listed property companies, Good says.
"The shares will be immediately tradeable and have a transparent market value. This is not always the case with investments in unlisted property securities."
Good says the company's announcement was prompted by the inkling one of its competitors was looking at doing the same thing as indexed property funds were the obvious gap in the market place.
Guardian Trust was also first off the block with an indexed equity fund following the launch of TeNZ.
SBC Warburg is the organising broker for the property offering and Guardian Trust will manage the companies.
The latest in the index fund craze is a series of three listed New Zealand and Australian property funds.