The INREV Standard Data Delivery Sheet (SDDS), a standard for the exchange of key fund data, has received support from the industry.

The SDDS aims to substantially improve the efficiency and transparency of information flow between investors and fund managers.

It will provide a number of key benefits including:

• Increased transparency and performance monitoring allowing a greater and more coherent level of performance data on a regular basis

• Increased comparability enabling investors to aggregate data for a full and consistent overview of their portfolios

• Streamlining of the increasing volume of data required by investors leading to more efficient, time-saving data capture processes for fund managers

The SDDS will complement, but not replace, quarterly fund reports providing a reliable basis for the exchange of data between the reporting systems of fund managers and the management information systems of investors.

Following its initial launch as a white paper in the spring, the SDDS has been through a thorough consultation to gather input from INREV members as well as from other international industry bodies such as ANREV, PREA, NCREIF and REIS.  The consultation exercise has helped to strengthen and shape the final version of the SDDS, ensuring that it is fit-for-purpose for non-listed real estate investors and fund managers across Europe and internationally.

“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,” says Roland Mangelmans senior portfolio manager at APG.

It will take time and effort to implement the SDDS fully because fund managers and investors are likely to have to make changes to their reporting processes and integrate the standard into their existing IT platforms.

“The INREV SDDS has been two years in development but we’ve ended up with an extremely useful and user-friendly standard. It will contribute massively to improving transparency within the industry, which is exactly what INREV is working towards. Once fully accepted and implemented by the market it should support a more efficient way of data exchange between fund managers and investors,” says Lonneke Löwik, director professional standards, INREV.