AIFMD

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) is a European Union (EU) regulation created in 2013 to help prevent instability and systemic risks in the financial system. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is the governing body for AIFMD filings. AIFMD consists of rules and filing procedures that all alternative asset managers must follow — including hedge funds, private equity funds, and real estate funds. Under AIFMD, asset managers must report details of portfolio management, market risks, liquidity risks, asset classes managed, and total assets under management (AUM), among others. 

When is AIFMD filed?

AIFMD is filed every three months (quarterly), six months (biannually), and 12 months (annually) depending upon the fund’s total AUM. 

Challenges in AIFMD filing

Complying with AIFMD can be challenging for three reasons:

• Data collation from multiple sources: Collecting and collating data from various sources and third-party systems can be time-consuming and cumbersome. Often, these data sets cannot be managed and analyzed effectively.
• Compliance with ESMA guidelines: There are multiple rules and guidelines laid out by ESMA for AIFMD reporting, as well as different formats to use. Asset managers need to stay aware of relevant guidelines to be compliant with the required formats.
• Review, analysis, and data validation: The complex nature of AIFMD calculations makes it very cumbersome for asset managers to analyze the information required for these reports. 

How IVP Regulatory Reporting Solution can help

The IVP Regulatory Reporting Solution is a comprehensive, cloud-based solution that helps asset managers streamline AIFMD workflows, improving both efficiency and compliance. The solution can:

• Facilitate data pulls from internal systems and third-party sources
• Bring all data into a single, unified platform for review
• Allow users to enter/edit data and attach supporting comments and documents
• Make it easy to save, verify, and approve data
• Increase transparency with drill-downs to all underlying data
• Help users understand ESMA requirements with a detailed glossary
• Alert on data integrity checks at multiple levels
• Summarize the filing period, fund AUM, filing type, underlying sections, and users in the workflow
• Display current filing status at section/subsection level
• Support other filings with the same data: 13F, Form CPO, Form PF, OPERA