🏢IFIX today

The IFIX is B3's index of real estate investment funds (FIIs, the Brazilian equivalent of REITs). It tracks a basket of the most traded funds on the exchange and works as the thermometer of the whole sector.

It has existed since 2010 and became the natural benchmark for any FII or FII portfolio. When a fund returns less than the IFIX over a period, it underperformed the market.

One important trait: the IFIX is a total return index. It already incorporates the monthly income distributed by the funds, not just the change in unit prices. That is why it climbs more steadily than the quoted price of its components.

The portfolio is reviewed every four months. To qualify, a fund must be among the most liquid, appear in at least 60% of the sessions in the period and not be flagged as a fund in a special situation.

Each fund's weight follows the market value of units in circulation, with a cap per asset. Large, liquid funds — paper (credit) funds from the traditional managers and logistics funds — usually sit at the top of the list.

Because a handful of large funds dominate the index, a strong move in the top names drags the whole IFIX. Check the table below before concluding that "the FII market" did something — sometimes it was just a few funds.

You can track the index through a FII ETF — such as XFIX11 — which replicates the IFIX portfolio and trades on B3 like any other listed unit.

The more common route among Brazilian retail investors is to build their own portfolio, picking fund by fund. In that case the IFIX stops being an investment and becomes the benchmark: the yardstick for whether your choices are beating the market or lagging it.