• Blog
  • 2 Min Read
  • October 20, 2021

Clearwater – Providing REITs the Solution They Need (and the One They Really Want)

The secret is out. Finally, there is a solution capable of handling the sophisticated portfolio requirements of real estate investment trusts (REITs). REITs have historically been boxed into accounting and reporting solutions built for other industries, leaving significant gaps for their unique needs.

Clearwater is different. Clearwater’s solution has the proven capabilities to solve the unique accounting and reconciliation challenges of REITs. Why? Because we are the only solution on the market that uses technology to address REITs’ needs for scale, continual improvement, and trusted high-quality data.

Some of the largest REITs have put their trust in Clearwater to be their investment accounting and reporting solution. Here’s why:

Flexible Assumptions and Configurations to Match Your Sophistication

REIT portfolios by definition contain esoteric assets and private asset classes that carry more substantial investment accounting and reporting requirements. That’s why REITs need the right solution, backed by industry expertise and a deep understanding of the market.

Clearwater has placed a significant focus on expanding asset coverage on the system, which includes the ability to provide book of record reporting and portfolio analytics for all invested asset types. For REITs, this includes agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, IOs, derivatives, repos, and all other asset or liability classes. With our full-coverage system, REITs have specific control over:

  • Flexible amortization assumptions
  • GAAP, tax, internal, and board reporting
  • Tax-specific amortization capabilities/assumptions
  • One consolidated business view (assets, liabilities, derivatives)
  • Transparency provided on a daily basis

Data Accuracy is in Clearwater’s DNA

The foundation of everything we do starts with complete, accurate data. Clearwater is unmatched in its attention to detail in ensuring our clients’ have this solid foundation. Each day, the system automatically performs numerous, detailed reconciliations and checks across multiple data sources to create best-in-class data hierarchies, business logic rules, and cross-source comparisons. These are essential elements for REITs in the search for yield and risk management.

Clearwater supplements custody data by aggregating security master characteristics from over 55 third-party data vendors and automatically integrates them into a robust, reconciled security master file that is updated daily.

Audit-Quality Production Data at Your Fingertips

Another way Clearwater does things differently is that we are based on an accounting-centric data model, which means accounting calculations are performed at the tax-lot level and are stored in Clearwater’s fully integrated data warehouse. Not only does this model prevent the need to reconcile data between systems and modules, but it also provides assurance to all stakeholders that they are using fully reconciled data to perform their work, and anything they are reporting can be traced directly back to a firm’s financial statements.

A Truly Client-Centric Model

With Clearwater, you’re not just buying a new solution, you’re entering into a true partnership with a dedicated team committed to client success. Your team of Clearwater experts is there to ensure you get the most effective use of the Clearwater system and ensure your processes are running smoothly, while industry and subject matter experts provide invaluable insight and resources to help you understand best practices, navigate market changes, and answer bigger questions. This data is “soft-locked” daily and fed into Clearwater’s accounting, compliance, performance, and risk engines. This reduces the time spent in reconciling accounting variances between platforms by offering an all-in-one, traceable solution.

THE REIT SOLUTION IS A CLICK AWAY

Are you ready to see for yourself what Clearwater can do? Schedule a meeting with a solutions consultant to get started.