MN ADDSCLIENT VALUE WITH

ROBUST INVESTMENTMANAGEMENT

SOFTWARE SOLUTIONHow MN boosted its private equity and real estate business

with SimCorp’s integrated Alternative Investments solution.

CLIENT STORY

Client Story | MN 2

IN SEARCH OF A RELIABLE ASSET

ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Dutch pension administrator and asset manager MN

wanted to administer its private equity (PE) and real

estate (IOG) investments with a more dedicated,

reliable and service-oriented system, in the process

of moving away from a heavy internal reliance on

Microsoft Excel. Explains Timo Zomerdijk, Head of

Valuation, Reporting & General Ledger, MN: “As Excel

was not a preferred system for administration, we

started to search for a complete and solid system to

administer both investment segments so that data

could be derived from the system in a structured and

orderly way.”

MN’s main requirements were that the solution could

create reports, make calculations and store all static

data at both fund level and underlying level (building

and company level). Timo Zomerdijk: “For us, it was

not a question of reducing costs; it’s an investment in

quality, more and better data, up-to-date data, acces-

sible data and also for the fund manager to run his

portfolio more efficiently.”

A SimCorp client since 2002, MN looked to its current

investment management software business partner for

a solution. Following a presentation in May 2011, SimCorp

was asked to initiate a proof-of-concept. This was based

on SimCorp Dimension’s Alternative Investments solu-

tion, enhanced with the latest features and designed to

handle private equity and real estate investments.

MN had worked with SimCorp on several occasions

before, and felt comfortable and secure in drawing on

the accumulated skills, know-how and experience that

SimCorp’s specialist consultants had to offer in the

area of project collaboration.

DETAILED REPORTING AND AUTOMATIC

VALUATION AS KEY DRIVERS

The proof-of-concept consisted of the full administra-

tion of six MN funds, three of which were private equi-

ty and three real estate funds, including basic report-

ing. End-users of the PE and IOG business segments

approved the proof-of-concept in June 2011, which

marked the actual start of the project.

The requirements for the new administration were

analysed and based on the MS Excel administration

of the IOG segment. Adds Timo Zomerdijk: “Besides

the transaction administration, detailed reporting and

automatic valuation based on transactions were the

main drivers.”

SimCorp demonstrated the solution and MN saw that

all the requirements could be fulfilled. In the project

phase, extra requirements emerged and SimCorp

had an answer for each and every need as it arose.

Either the solution was known in advance or else was

referred to SimCorp to get it fixed, which proved an

invaluable experience for MN.

The project’s configuration phase ran from July to

end-November 2011, followed by testing in December

and January 2012. Three weeks into 2012, the new

functionality went into production by converting the

funds from the original Fund Certificate administration

in SimCorp Dimension to the detailed Alternative

Investments functionality.

An integrated SimCorp solution helped MN deliver more transparency,flexibility, and value to its alternative investments offering. As a result,MN can service client demands more competitively and efficiently.

MN UPGRADES ITS ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS OFFERING

Client Story | MN 3

Timo Zomerdijk, Head of Valuation, Reporting & General Ledger, MN: “The SimCorp solution met all our system service requirements. As it can also communicate with our main asset management administration system (SimCorp Dimension), the choice was easily made.”

REGISTERING TRANSACTIONS MORE EFFECTIVELY

AND FLEXIBLY

The new method of administering its alternative

investment transactions with dedicated transaction

codes and screens enables MN to register each trans-

action in more detail, and with a payment attached

directly to each transaction. These payments are then

approved and ultimately reconciled with the imme-

diate business transaction attached to it. At a later

stage, payments will be automated and netted by use

of SWIFT instructions.

Also, a number of fee types like management fees

that could only be registered as part of a capital call

earlier can now be registered separately; the flexible

definition of these expense (and income) types en-

sures that every type of fee can be registered sepa-

rately in SimCorp Dimension.

GENERATING ADDED VALUE FOR CLIENTS

The new administration allows for more detailed in-

formation to be registered. Not only do the funds that

MN invests in on behalf of its clients contain useful

information; the investments in buildings and compa-

nies by those funds provides detailed information that

can be used for an analysis of the investments per

country, region or sector, across all funds.

This information is very valuable for MN and its clients.

Timo Zomerdijk: “This information enables us and

them to see our and their exposure on a more detailed

level and then to act on it.” Setting up the funds and

their underlying investments in this way prepared MN

for the Fund Decomposition functionality added in

one of the releases SimCorp Dimension provides cli-

ents twice a year to continually upgrade and enhance

its product and service portfolio.

CREATING DETAILED REPORTS BASED

ON ONE DATABASE

Having all transaction information and fund data in

SimCorp Dimension allows MN to create a number

of more service-oriented reports, all based on one

database. Reports can now be generated directly

from SimCorp Dimension, as opposed to constructing

reports based on several spreadsheets. These reports

contain a number of key ratios like Internal Rate of

Return, Total Value to Paid-In, etc.

Having a solid and up-to-date overview of all the

private equity and real estate portfolios without com-

paring and merging Excel sheets is one of the gains

achieved by MN. As Timo Zomerdijk states: “Running

just one system enables all the information to become

accessible to all the relevant departments: the settle-

ment and valuation departments, financial reporting,

not to mention the fund manager.”

AUTOMATING THE VALUATION PROCESS

Another key business driver for MN was valuation.

Private equity and real estate fund managers tend to

update their investors each quarter with regard to the

value of investments in funds. This invariably means

the value of the funds is not known in between the

quarters.

Client Story | MN 4

By using the Alternative Investments solution, MN can

take into account for valuation all the relevant trans-

actions conducted during each quarter (i.e. capital

calls, capital returns, fees, dividends, etc.) to generate

up-to-date figures between end-of-quarter dates. This

process has been automated in SimCorp Dimension,

adding flexibility and ensuring that every transaction

triggers an update of the market values where even

back-dated changes are taken into account.

QUICK AND EASY ACCESS TO ALL DATA

To allow its fund managers and middle office quick

and easy access to all data, MN also opted to install

SimCorp’s Portfolio Workbench solution, which pro-

vides for:

• Up-to-date market values per fund or even per

underlying company

• Fund types and fund strategies

• Geographical and sector distributions

• Key ratios

Access to these up-to-date figures, combined with

graphical tools and pivot tables, provides additional

value to MN’s fund managers when they assess the

investments and improves communication with clients

when it comes to evaluating their investments.

A HIGHLY FLEXIBLE AND ACCESSIBLE SOLUTION

Implementing a new solution required a thorough

look-through methodology. As is typical in project

work like this, MN had a lot of questions and, as its

business partner, SimCorp was there to assist in find-

ing all the right answers. With the constant on-site

help and advice of SimCorp consultants, MN found

the solutions it sought in speedy and effective project

implementation.

For MN, choosing the Alternative Investment solution

to complement its in-house use of SimCorp Dimension

as the main asset administration system has proved to

be a highly flexible solution, well suited for cash flow-

based investments, such as direct investments, private

equity fund investments, and real estate investments.

As Timo Zomerdijk sums it up: “The bottom line is that

we now have an easy-to-use and accessible system

that can produce at any time of the day an overview of

all our private equity and real estate investments, with

the latest valuations, investment regions, businesses, in-

vestment managers, called/outstanding commitments,

and more.”

“The bottom line is that we now have an easy-to-use and accessible system that can produce at any time of the day an overview of all our private equity and real estate investments, with the latest valuations, investment regions, businesses, investment managers, called/- outstanding commitments, and more.TIMO ZOMERDIJKHead of Valuation, Reporting & General Ledger, MN

Name: MN

Headquarters: The Hague, The Netherlands

Industry: Pension administrator and asset manager

Business: Pension administration and investment

management

AUM: Over ¤90 billion

Website: www.mn-services.com

5Client Story | UNIQA

CLIENT STORY QUICK FACTS

CHALLENGES

• Replace old system to administer private equity

(PE) and real estate (IOG) investments in a more

dedicated, reliable and efficient way

• Move away from heavy reliance on Microsoft Excel

spreadsheets

• Find a sophisticated and service-oriented device to

support alternative investments

• Satisfy reporting needs of external clients and

internal stakeholders (i.e. fund managers and

senior management)

OBJECTIVES

• Adopt more detailed administration with sectoral

and regional distribution of all funds (decomposition)

• Implement improved reporting and automatic

valuation mechanisms

• Set up cash flow registration (transparency of fees)

• Design future-proof solution (reporting in-house)

• Benefit from prior experience with SimCorp service

implementation practices

SOLUTION

• A single fully integrated solution meeting all criteria

– both present and future

• Convincing proof-of-concept with solution

designed for specific needs

• Flexible portfolio workbench tool for front- and

middle-office users

• On-line tool with key ratios and positions for full

access to all data

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

• Commitment transactions: holding without any

cash flow

• New balances for commitment, unpaid commit-

ment and called capital

• Dedicated transaction windows and transaction

codes – income and expenses freely definable

• Market values instead of nominals

• Cash directly linked to the investment – no single

payment transactions anymore

• Registered in one database, available for in-house

reporting (future-proof)

• Prepared for automatic payment instructions

(and netted)

ABOUT MN

MN is one of the largest pension administrators and asset

managers in the Netherlands. Pension administration and

investment management comprise MN’s core activities.

With over 60 years of experience in these areas, MN assists

its clients with extensive knowledge of the Dutch pension

system. Some 1,000 dedicated employees ensure that

nearly two million Dutch nationals are supplied with a

comprehensible and affordable pension scheme. MN

manages assets worth over ¤90 billion for a wide range

of pension funds in the Netherlands and in the United

Kingdom. Apart from corporate headquarters in The Hague,

Netherlands, MN has offices in Amsterdam and London.

More information at www.mn-services.com.

ABOUT SIMCORP

SimCorp provides integrated, best-in-class investment management solutions

to the world’s leading asset managers, fund managers, asset servicers, pension and

insurance funds, wealth managers and sovereign wealth funds. Whether deployed

on premise or as an ASP solution, its core system, SimCorp Dimension, supports

the entire investment value chain and range of instruments, all based on a market-

leading IBOR. SimCorp invests more than 20% of its annual revenue in R&D, helping

clients develop their business and stay ahead of ever-changing industry demands.

Listed on NASDAQ Copenhagen, SimCorp is a global company, regionally covering

all of Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.

For more information, please visit www.simcorp.com.

ONE SYSTEM FOR A COMPLEX WORLD

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