Mandatum Asset Management AIFM

Introduction

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Falcony tenant portal was launched in all Mandatum AM AIFM’s (previously Trevian Funds AM AIFM) multi-tenant properties in 2021, when the company had realised a need for a platform that would help them improve their tenant involvement and experience. The system is currently used primarily by Mandatum's property managers, external property managers, and other personnel. Property maintenance also uses the system in their daily work.

Before the introduction of Falcony's tenant portal, Mandatum did not have an actual tenant communication channel as it mainly took place in their staff's emails. As the real estate portfolio grew rapidly, there was a need for an efficient platform to improve two-way communication between tenants and property representatives.

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‍Company

Mandatum Asset Management is the asset management arm of Sampo Group. Mandatum AM Finland Real Estate II is a special investment fund that invests in domestic real estate, whose investment policy includes investing in various real estate properties in Finnish growth centres that offer good cash flow and development potential. Mandatum has one of Finland's leading real estate teams and extensive human resources, which enables the fund to invest in properties that require active management and development. Their current real estate portfolio consists of more than 40 properties.

Challenges before Falcony

The need for a new tenant portal arose after Mandatum grew exponentially fast for a couple of years. Their compact team of six people did not have enough resources for proper tenant communication or a functioning process when new tenants moved into their properties. With few resources it was especially difficult to communicate and familiarise themselves with tenants outside the capital region. It was also hard to get completely acquainted with one's own properties as proper introductive materials and instructions were missing. Due to this and missing contact information, the first contact for all requests was often the property manager in charge of the rental. This added even more workload for the already limited staff resources.

When the tenants were hardly known, the takeover phase of properties became laborious as contact information had to be fetched from the contracts. Also, the information and the desired newsletters did not go to the right people, as in many cases the contact information had already changed. Because of this, it often took so long to successfully send a newsletter that in the end they were not sent at all.

"Due to lack of resources, the process often went accordingly: the tenant had the keys for the property and they kind of needed to manage on their own. It was sometimes about extinguishing fires from one to the next," says Tea Siivola, Commercial Director of Mandatum AF AIFM.

Implementation

The criteria for the new system was to have a cost-effective solution that meets the needs of both Mandatum and its tenants. The ease of use and transparency were seen as highly important criteria as well.

Mandatum heard good things about Falcony from Espen shopping centre it owns in Vaasa, where the system had already been in use. When making the decision, Mandatum also looked at other options but discovered that they were heavy and expensive for the smaller properties they run.

According to Siivola, the entire purchasing process and transition to Falcony went really smoothly. The whole organisation has now used Falcony for a year and Espen shopping centre for almost two.

Results & Benefits

The most obvious benefits of moving to Falcony have been saving time and resources, and generally improving tenant communication and experience across the board. For example, response times to customer questions are now significantly better and, as a result, customer satisfaction has improved.

It is also now much easier for the tenants to access property information they are interested in. An example of this is electricity consumption as related information can now be collected and shared more transparently. At the same time, the staff has been able to better utilise the properties' information in sales situations and stay up to date on possible changes.

"The availability of information is now better both internally for our team and externally for the tenants," says Siivola.

According to Siivola, bringing mobile key orders and maintenance requests to Falcony's tenant portal has also been a big relief: "Before, we were not able to monitor whether things were taken care of or not. The area manager's time was spent on monitoring the completion of maintenance operations."

The adaptability and personalisation of the system also receive praise. With the introduction of the tenant portal, Mandatum has become interested in expanding the use of Falcony to other uses as well.

"From day one, the tenant portal has been easy to use and clear. Everything was clearly explained during the onboarding phase, so we haven't needed separate training to use it," Siivola concludes.