Index provider MSCI is to bolster its suite of indices covering less liquid asset classes to cater for their growing attractiveness among institutional investors.

Baer Pettit, managing director and head of the MSCI index business, told Financial News that the group's acquisition of real estate data provider IPD, which closed last month, was the first step towards improving the risk models MSCI offers to pension schemes trying to understand the pros and cons of alternative assets.