Altus delivers heightened visibility in era of uncertainty

Altus Group, a provider of software and independent advisory services to the global commercial real estate industry, announces its latest cloud-based applications designed to increase visibility and transparency.

These include valuation management platform DataExchange 3.0 and ARGUS Cloud Workflow Approval for asset and investment management solution ARGUS Enterprise.

Altus Group today released DataExchange 3.0, the latest version of its valuation management platform for commercial real estate. DataExchange, which supports thousands of users and over 8,000 assets with a combined asset value of over $650bn, has now enhanced its functionality beyond the US to include UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

For large global investors and fund managers, the process, volume, frequency and regulatory requirements of asset valuations can be complex and time-consuming. DataExchange 3.0 is an “intuitive cloud-based valuation management platform” that helps organisations efficiently manage valuation processes and mitigate risk through increased transparency, workflows and analytics. Its centralised workflow and document management system allows the seamless exchange of information, including ARGUS files, in the valuation management process between the key stakeholders including valuation management professionals, clients and third-party appraisers.

“In the midst of the current unprecedented period of fluidity surrounding valuations, now more than ever investors and fund managers are looking for greater transparency and more frequent valuations to maximise investment performance,” said Rick Kalvoda, senior executive vice president at Altus Group. “DataExchange delivers a significantly enhanced level of visibility and simplifies the valuation management process so that clients can spend more time understanding the value of their assets and funds.”

DataExchange 3.0 provides several key capabilities including:

• Centralisation and collaboration – facilitates seamless collaboration with the ability to store, track and review documents (such as rent rolls, plans, budgets) in one central location and efficiently access files through structured folder storage and bulk download capabilities, providing greater visibility across assets and portfolios.
• Flexible and automated valuation management workflows – standardises valuation management processes across all of a clients’ funds, such as tracking and approving daily events occurring within the asset and review processes, and provides intuitive workflow management that automatically tracks deadlines and reduces time to initiate and complete appraisals.
• Enhanced visibility through analytics – presents asset trends and compares current quarter values with a robust comparable dataset that enables clients to make better informed decisions as they draft or review appraisal reports.
• Better compliance – delivers greater compliance efficiency through a full audit trail and embedded compliance certificate that provides required separation of investment manager and valuation functions under USPAP, RICS standards and regulation, providing stakeholders with greater transparency into the valuation process.
• Integrated global platform – supports global currencies, measurement systems and time-sones and provides a consistent user-experience in all regions and markets, including the U.S., U.K., Europe and Asia-Pacific, to help clients manage global portfolios with greater efficiency and visibility.

Altus Group also announced the upcoming release in May of ARGUS Cloud Workflow Approval, a new capability that allows cloud-based ARGUS Enterprise users to better collaborate and work more efficiently through the automation of processes within AE using custom approval workflows. AE, used by thousands of CRE companies around the world, is the leading global asset and investment management platform enabling clients to model, forecast, manage, analyse and report on their CRE assets and cash flows from acquisition to disposition.

ARGUS Cloud Workflow Approval enables greater user collaboration across internal and external teams through the ability to manage business process approvals for tasks associated with an AE model. From valuations to budgeting to performance monitoring, it enables users to work on the same AE data, track comments, assign specific tasks to teammates and enforce approval processes providing greater veracity of AE models. It allows users within or outside an organisation to work collaboratively in one central location to streamline asset management processes and improve visibility.

Future functionality will expand workflow approval for the entire suite of cloud-based ARGUS solutions in addition to AE.