The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) and the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) have introduced the NCREIF/CREFC Fund Index Open-End Moderate-Yield Debt, the first institutionally backed, fund-level performance benchmark designed specifically for private real estate debt strategies. 

The index represents a significant step forward in bringing transparency, comparability, and analytical rigor to a rapidly growing segment of the commercial real estate capital stack. As of June 30, 2025, the index includes 12 open-end moderate-yield debt funds totaling more than $30 billion in assets and over 500 underlying loans, with historical performance dating back to Q4 2017. 

The benchmark will remain in a one- to two-year consultation phase, allowing CREFC and NCREIF to refine methodology, ensure robust governance practices, and gather input from fund managers, consultants, and institutional investors who rely on performance benchmarks to evaluate strategy risk-return alignment. 

Alongside the new index, the organizations continue to publish the Open-End Debt Fund Aggregate, a broader research dataset covering funds across the Core, Moderate-Yield, and High-Yield spectrum — providing the market with deeper insight into performance dispersion by style.