Not a year seems to go by these days without real estate being mentioned in the UK budget. Whether it’s simple changes to accountancy rules or something more significant on the scale of ATED or SDLT, there’s usually something in there.
And that’s just the UK – on an international level you’ve got legislation and directives such as the new IASB requirements on leasing that are keeping accountants and tax advisors busy. That’s even before you get on to wider company and investor reporting, such as BEPS and FATCA – the list of legislation continues to grow.
So why does all of this matter? It highlights the scale of industry developments the real estate sector has to contend with. People often talk about private equity and real estate in the same breath – but in reality they are entirely different assets, operating in very different legal and regulatory environments.
And where there’s a different legal and regulatory environment you have different accounting rules and reporting requirements, different structuring needs and so on. As a real estate manager, you’ll want a service provider who knows and understands your industry, and has experience of adapting their service model to the latest developments.
With a number of major real estate fund managers among our clients, we’re used to dealing with investments and investor bases that span multiple jurisdictions. We’ve had scenarios where, following legislative developments, we’ve needed to restructure investment holding vehicles in a very short timeframe, or new accountancy rules have required us to adapt our financial reporting to very tight deadlines. If ever there was an industry where adaptability was crucial, this is it.
You’ll also want a partner who’s more than comfortable dealing with all parties that are crucial to the operation of your fund. And that’s not just the tax advisors and lawyers – rent needs collecting, cleaners and decorators need paying. It all needs to be run like clockwork and we’ve got a specialist systems team that we’ll configure to your specific requirements to ensure that all of this happens as seamlessly as possible.
And last, but not least, investors – the lifeblood of your fund. Onboarding, capital calls, communications, distributions – all crucial elements of investor relations, but without accurate records and well-maintained registers, fulfilling these tasks in a timely and efficient manner is impossible. Investor relations are at the very heart of our award-winning service, and day-in-day-out we administer funds with complex investor structures.
These are just a few of our insights into our experience of working with real estate managers just like you. One size doesn’t fit all—we know this. Every firm is different and every fund is different, but what we can do is combine our partnership-based approach with 15 years’ experience of working with real estate investment managers to find a solution that’s right for you.
To find out more about how we work with real asset managers click here.
To discover for yourself what makes us the bright alternative and how we can support, please contact Paul Conroy, our Group Head of AIFM.