IVBN
Vereniging van Institutionele Beleggers in Vastgoed, Nederland
Association of Institutional property investors in The Netherlands
Mission
The Association of Institutional Property Investors in the Netherlands (IVBN) was established in 1995 to promote the interests of its members, to provide a platform for institutional property investors and to further professionalism in the sector. To this end IVBN focuses on direct and indirect investment in property, concentrating on the actual bricks and mortar.
Profile
The members
The members of IVBN include large pension funds, insurance companies, banks, and real estate funds and companies which may or may not be listed. On 1 January 2009 IVBN had 31 members who jointly represent more than €50 billion investment in Dutch property and another €150 billion abroad. The organisations affiliated to IVBN invest - both directly and indirectly - mainly in housing (approximately 43%), offices (approximately 24%) and retail outlets (approximately 28%). Furthermore they invest in industrial objects and other property, including car parks.
Approximately 134,000 homes are rented through IVBN members. With this they form the third largest party in the housing market after the housing corporations and private landlords. The commercial property mainly consists of office space (approximately 6 million m²), retail outlets (approximately 4.5 million m²) and industrial objects. This makes the institutional investors the primary lessor of commercial property in the Netherlands.
Membership
Membership of IVBN is open to institutional property investors whose objective is sustainable commercial operation. The members include pension funds, insurance companies and banks, real estate funds and companies which may or may not be listed and professional portfolio managers who have a substantial direct and/or indirect property portfolio. The minimum size of the investments in property in the Netherlands must be at least €100 million. IVBN also has associate members; these are parties with an institutional character with an indirectly invested property portfolio worth at least €250 million, of which a minimum of €50 million is invested in property in the Netherlands. The Articles of Association and Internal Regulations can be found on the IVBN website.
The association works with an admission procedure, the primary condition is that members are institutional investors. New members must sign the IVBN Code of Ethics. This code of ethics governs careful and ethical dealings in the property investment sector. Part of this general code of ethics is that IVBN members also uphold an internal code of ethics for their directors and employees which governs what is considered to be good behaviour in the property sector. IVBN has drawn up a model for use by its members. The text of the IVBN Code of Ethics and the IVBN Model Internal Code of ethics can be found on the IVBN website.
IVBN organisation
The Board of IVBN, consisting of people who work in the property investment sector on a daily basis, actively guides the association. In carrying out its activities, IVBN has at its disposal a small, decisive and professional team. Several work groups assist this branch association, with specialists recruited from amongst its members. Our members are involved in the IVBN through the board, the three-monthly general meetings and study groups. To see the composition of the board, the study groups and the bureau click here elsewhere on this website.