A product that has helped to drive transparency in the US real estate investment trust (Reit) industry is to be rolled out across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region at the beginning of July.

SNL Interactive, a product launched by consultancy SNL Financial in the US in 1997, was the first tool to allow subscribers to delve into the underlying portfolio of Reits, including geographical spread, financial statements, the value of individual buildings and number of tenants.

The underlying database can then reveal aggregate data on a region’s Reits industry, offering a snapshot of how much is invested in different sectors of the property market.

SNL Interactive will initially cover 95 listed real estate companies in the Australia/ Asia-Pacific region and 103 in Europe, although the latter will increase dramatically once Reits are rolled out across Germany over the next few years.

SNL’s vice-president of sales Oliver Meek said that the launch seeks to tap into the increasingly global spread of Reits.

Head of property research at SWIP Ian Hally said: ‘We have always been saying that Reits will increase transparency in the industry but something like this completes the process.

‘The launch adds to our argument to bring more transparency to the market. UK Reits publish a lot of information on their websites and there quarterly statements, but the level of detail varies. This consultancy does all the hard work by filling in gaps when they come across them.’