As part of an effort to integrate research and consulting solutions, Mercer has joined together with real estate performance analysis company IPD to launch a wholesale property index for institutional investors who manage unlisted real estate investments.

The Mercer/IPD Australian Pooled Property Fund Index has replaced the Mercer Unlisted Property Funds Index and IPD Australian Pooled Property Fund Index, which was launched by IPD in August.

The new index is part of an international suite of pooled property fund indices published by IPD and augments Mercer's set of Australian investment surveys.

"Combining forces with IPD enables us to further develop the index and provide our clients with a wider range of unlisted property performance data, therefore a more robust index," Mercer head of real estate for the Asia-Pacific Jennifer Johnstone Kaiser said.

"It also provides a greater ability to compare how Australian real estate funds stack up against global funds."

Mercer has a team of seven real estate professionals globally that oversee real estate portfolios.

According to the first Mercer/IPD Australian Pooled Property Fund Index, the investment return for Australian unlisted pooled property funds over the 12 months to the end of September was -13.2 per cent.

On a quarterly basis, the return to September 2009 was -0.5 per cent, but showed a marked improvement on the low point of -6.3 per cent for the June quarter.

"While these results highlight the ongoing difficult conditions facing managers of unlisted property funds, the recent improvement in performance reflects the underlying stabilisation of asset values in the Australian direct property market," IPD director John Garimont said.