How Clearwater Established Itself as the Premier Solution for REITs

Innovation begins with collaboration. That is why Clearwater spent years collaborating with real estate investment trusts (REITs) to find innovative solutions to complex challenges.

As a result of our collaborative approach, we have developed a deep understanding of the unique business objectives and investment strategies that are top-of-mind for our REIT clients. We understand the REIT landscape is a competitive and specialized market where investment strategy, analysis, and execution are paramount to success.

Recent volatility and forecasted outlook have put an emphasis on lean operations, calculated investment decisions, and timeliness. However, REITs often struggle with:

• Data aggregation and data warehouses
• Manual reconciliation
• Disparate reporting

Clearwater responds to these challenges with the industry’s only true SaaS solution for REIT accounting and reporting. Clearwater helps REITS streamline their processes with solutions such as automated aggregation, daily reconciliation, and accurate reporting.

Ready to learn more? Talk to an expert today to see how the Clearwater solution is designed to meet the unique needs of REITs.

Keeping Up with REIT Regulations and Reporting

We have witnessed firsthand the exhaustive measures REITs have taken to keep up with ever-changing accounting regulations, reporting demands, and market volatility. For many years, REITs lacked the luxury of an investment accounting software that was built for their specific needs and investment strategies.

Some REITs attempted to solve this problem by building their own investment accounting systems, which led to further demanding challenges. Developing and maintaining an in-house data and reporting solution is time consuming, frustrating, and expensive.

The more common approach was for REITs to rely on a tech stack of bespoke, on-premises software that required resource-intensive implementation and maintenance. Often, treasury and accounting teams used different systems, which led to reporting discrepancies at period-end.  Throughout this process, REITs found that relying on solutions intended for insurance firms or corporations only partially met their needs. Their full-time employees were spending an exorbitant amount of time customizing, managing, and troubleshooting the technology stack.

Relying on these disparate solutions resulted in inconsistent or inaccurate accounting, which ultimately led to teams spending valuable time aggregating, reconciling, and manually updating spreadsheets at month end. REITs needed an innovative solution so more time could be spent navigating the volatility rather than drowning in the economic storm.

A Solution Designed for REITs

Clearwater Analytics’ innovative solution for REITs is the result of years of research, development, and collaboration. Clearwater’s solution has solved challenges for insurers, asset managers, and corporations, and has been refined to meet the complex needs of our growing REIT client base as well.

Clearwater provides an efficient, streamlined solution designed specifically for REIT accounting and reporting. The solution delivers essential reporting capabilities including:

• Daily book price
• Daily amort calculations
• Amortization banding
• End-to-end structured product support
• Alternative asset class coverage
• TAX & GAAP comparisons
• SOC audit and SOX compliance
• OMS, GL, and TMS integration
• Data warehouse scalability

Clearwater is the only true SaaS solution in the market with a proven record of accomplishment for REITs. As our REIT client base grows, we are continuing to listen to their needs and make pertinent enhancements to the Clearwater system.

REIT Spotlight: Chimera Investment Corporation

Chimera Investment Corporation is an internally managed REIT headquartered in New York City. Their investment portfolio includes residential mortgage loans, non-agency and agency residential mortgage-backed securities, and agency commercial mortgage-backed securities.

The Clearwater solution provides Chimera with automated investment data management, accounting, reporting, and analytics. For Chimera, it was important to find a partner who could provide transparency to their investment data while supporting their sophisticated accounting requirements.

“Clearwater demonstrated to us a solution built and ready to handle the complexity of our portfolio,” said Kelley Kortman, Chief Accounting Officer at Chimera. “We look forward to taking advantage of a platform that will scale with us and stay continually updated in alignment with market conditions and ever-changing regulatory requirements.”

The Future is Bright for REITs

To meet the needs of a constantly changing environment, Clearwater is focused on delivering a solution that evolves with our clients’ needs. We are committed to continue investing ~25% of revenue into research and development, and we are keeping REITs a priority for product enhancements.

Our technology and servicing teams handle system maintenance to free up resources for our clients. Additionally, product updates are regularly pushed to the cloud, which ensures our clients have access to the most up-to-date system and processes without the need for any manual downloads or updates.

For these reasons and more, the future is looking bright for REITs. Innovation is the driving force that established Clearwater as the premier accounting and reporting solution for REITs, and we are committed to continuing that innovation to create a system that can quickly adapt to client needs in the coming years.

The Premier Solution for REITs

Clearwater Analytics is the premier SaaS solution in the REIT market, and we are here to stay. We have demonstrated our value as the only true REIT investment accounting solution by finding innovative ways to solve the market’s unique accounting and reporting needs.

We look forward to continuing to work with our growing base of REIT clients to find efficient solutions to complex problems. As the REIT market continues to evolve in the coming years, we will be there alongside our clients to help them adapt, innovate, and succeed.

Interested in learning more? Schedule a meeting with an expert today to learn more about the Clearwater solution for REITs.