Background
As we have covered in our newsletters, the Cost Transparency Initiative (CTI) was launched in November 2018 - it is an independent group supported by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board and the Investment Association (IA). It is a new industry standard for institutional investment cost data. This built on the recommendations of the Institutional Disclosure Working Group (IDWG) which had been established by the FCA. It was disbanded after delivering its final report to the FCA, after which the role was handed on to the CTI.
The templates
The CTI has created a set of templates and tools which together form a framework investors can use to receive standardised cost and charges information from asset managers.
Following input via the CTI Technical Expert Panel (see below), there are now two templates that are suitable for reporting by real estate investment managers for funds and separate accounts, both of which include property level data:
The Main Account Template, which is suitable for open-ended funds, separate accounts and other long-term management arrangements;
The Private Markets Sub-template which is suitable for managers of closed-ended private equity, private debt and real estate funds.
Our involvement
John chairs the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF) CTI & Expense Ratio Working Group. It has two roles:
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Working with the CTI to enable cost data for real estate funds to be recorded in a consistent and clear way on the templates.
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Reviewing AREF's Total Expense Ratio guidance.
He represents the real estate industry on the CTI Technical Expert Panel.
He was the author of the 2017 AREF / INREV report "Cost Transparency in European Listed and Non-Listed Real Estate".
Key resources
The CTI website, which includes the templates, guidance and a general Q&A can be found here.
General information on the CTI initiative can be found on the AREF website here.
A CTI Q&A can be found on the AREF website here. This covers property specific matters and more general questions raised by AREF members.
Useful information can be found on the Investment Association website here.
More information on the 2017 AREF / INREV report "Cost Transparency in European Listed and Non-Listed Real Estate" can be found here.
Tel: 0207 237 0374
Cost Transparency Initiative
