EUROPE – INREV's new standard for exchanging key fund data between real estate investors and managers has won strong industry support during consultation, according to the association.

The new Standard Data Delivery Sheet (SDDS) system, which has now been finalised, is meant to make the information flow between investors and fund managers much more efficient and transparent.

It will run alongside the existing quarterly fund reports.

Roland Mangelmans, senior portfolio manager at Dutch pensions administrator APG, said: "The industry has really got behind this initiative. This support is vital to achieving our common objective of radically improving the quality of fund-level data and enhancing the effectiveness of the whole industry."

After its initial launch as a white paper this spring, the SDDS has been through a consultation to gather input from INREV members, as well as from other international industry bodies such as ANREV, PREA, NCREIF and REIS.

Lonneke Löwik, director of professional standards at INREV, said the new standard would make a big difference for investors.

"As an investor, if you receive this for all your investments, you will have true standardisation," she said. "You will have a better overview of your own portfolio."

While the new reporting system is a European initiative, Löwik described it as having global ambition.

"We have reached out to industry associations like ourselves in Europe and the US, and we are trying to make it as global as possible," she said.

Apart from increased transparency and performance monitoring for investors, another key benefit of SDDS is that fund managers will be able to streamline the increasing amount of data investors require, making-data capturing processes quicker and more efficient, according to INREV.

The consultation has helped shape the final version of the SDDS, the association said, ensuring it works well for non-listed real estate investors and fund managers across Europe and internationally.

However, INREV acknowledged that it would take time and effort to implement the SDDS fully because fund managers and investors would probably have to change reporting processes and integrate the standard into existing IT platforms.

INREV's board approved the final version of the system earlier this month.

Löwik said it had been published now in order to give managers and investors time to adjust and start using the system in the first quarter of next year.

INREV is the European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles.

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