Sectie5
About Sectie5
Sectie5 structures high-yielding real estate investment funds with a moderate risk profile for private investors and institutional investors. They specialize in shopping centers, supermarkets and healthcare real estate in the Netherlands. Sectie5 controls 27 funds over 3 mandates, with 19 AIF’s that have to report the AIFMD Annex IV yearly. For this case, we spoke to Wibo van Ommeren, CFO and statutory director of Sectie5.
The AIFMD Annex IV reporting challenge
According to van Ommeren, the XML format that became a requirement for AIFMD reporting felt like a tough decision by the ESMA. Sectie5 didn’t have the skills nor experience available internally to be able to export the XML with the correct data. In 2019, they had to find a solution to make their first Annex IV report for january 2020. Van Ommeren soon discovered that it was very challenging to get it done manually. Other friendly competitors were struggling with the same problem. They invited the Dutch interest group for providers of unlisted real estate investment products Forumvast to host a presentation about the AIFMD reporting XML. Matterhorn’s product owner Olaf van Halm shared his expertise and presented the Annex IV reporting solution.
The solution
Matterhorn made an Annex IV reporting template in Microsoft Excel that didn’t require installation. It’s an Excel sheet that has predefined fields, combined with a comprehensive explanation on what specific information about your fund should be filled into each field. The Annex IV reporting template can be uploaded in your browser to a highly secure architecture owned by Matterhorn. With client-side Javascript and an Apache web server, Matterhorn is able to create a XML formatted file safely and securely that you can directly save to your local device. The next step is to upload the AIFMD reporting XML to the relevant regulator, in this case the Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).
“From my own experience I was curious how certain fields would be validated. When I contacted Matterhorn, they had a direct answer on how they interpret many of the required data. They demonstrated in-depth knowledge about the AIFMD Annex IV reporting. Since we report yearly, I can simply re-use my data and make adjustments accordingly. This saves me a lot of time when reporting next year.”
The result
The Annex IV reporting template worked efficiently, and the AIFMD reporting deadline was met. For the next reporting obligation in January 2021, Van Ommeren can easily re-use the Annex IV reporting template because it links to existing data sources, which saves time and reduces the risk of errors with every submission. According to him, meeting the challenging reporting requirements of AIFMD Annex IV is like hygiene. It’s required by law to meet the standards set by the regulator, and you are obliged to do the Annex IV reporting correctly to stay out of trouble.
Why Matterhorn
“It was really nice that when you create the XML file, it automatically validates if the information is filled in correctly. This helped me a lot in reducing errors before uploading to the regulator. There is always the risk of errors, but the Matterhorn Annex IV reporting template assured me I was following the latest guidelines, minimizing the risk of reporting incorrect data.”
“The combination of their Annex IV expertise combined with their technical know-how of developing the AIFMD reporting XML makes it really comfortable working with them. They were the missing piece in our organisation.”