AREF has a unique Code of Practice, widely recognised as the gold standard in corporate governance. 

AREF Fund Member Compliance

It is a requirement for all Fund Members of AREF to confirm annually their compliance with the Code of Practice.  Funds' level of compliance with the Code is recorded on a matrix, which is publicly available on our website, and allows funds to display our Quality Mark.  With investors in real estate fund increasingly looking at governance, the matrix and Quality Mark makes it easier for investors and their advisers to discern funds' commitment to good governance.

Key Principals

The Code of Practice has three key principals that capture the spirit of the Code of Practice.  These are:

Transparency

Managers of AREF member funds are expected to act in the best interests of all investors and provide transparent and timely information to them: 

  • Reporting should be timely and accurate and including relevant up to date information and analysis.
  • Managers should maintain an open dialogue with investors including communication over decision making processes, the use of independent third parties for valuations and secondary market transactions, the appropriate use of financial instruments including risk monitoring, and transparency over insurance and service charges.
  • Appropriate policies should be in place that address potential risk and conflicts and these should be disclosed to investors where they may affect the integrity of the fund.
  • The fund should demonstrate a proactive attitude towards improving ESG initiatives. In achieving best practice, annual reviews should be conducted and disseminated to investors.

 

Accountability

Managers of AREF member funds have operational policies and procedures which ensure that they are accountable for their actions and demonstrate an alignment of interest between the manager and investors. This includes:

  • The setting of performance objectives, fund benchmarks and performance calculations, internal investment committees including management structure and accountability, clarity over calculation and timeliness of distributions, transparency in reporting of fees and expenses, adequate procedures for provision of unit pricing and dealing in subscriptions and redemptions, collection and reporting of fund flows and other relevant data.

 

Operational Integrity

Managers are expected to provide clear transparent and unambiguous documentation about the governance and structure of AREF member funds. This includes:

  • Fund structure, fund objectives and strategy, governance matters such as fund oversight by committee, details surrounding the appointment, obligations and termination of the manager, how and when the fund will end its life, liquidity provisions and investor protection policies such as confidentiality and disaster recovery.  
  • Managers should demonstrate integrity and ensure that investors will be treated fairly in all circumstances.

 


Self Certification Process

To confirm compliance with the Code of Practice, all AREF funds need to complete our self-certification process.  Upon completion of this, AREF issue fund members with the Quality Mark for that year.  The results from the self-certification process are shown in a yearly matrix.  Click the links to the left to view historic self-certification results. The online self-certification process will be launched in Summer 2019 - members will be notified.

Related pages:

Code of Practice 2019

Our unique Code of Practice & Quality Mark are widely recognised as the gold standard in corporate governance.

Self Certification Matrices

To confirm compliance with the Code of Practice, all AREF funds need to complete our self-certification process. Read more..

The AREF Quality Mark

AREF fund members must confirm their compliance with our Code of Practice in order to obtain our Quality Mark.