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Limited assurance report of the independent auditor on the selected non-financial indicators

To: the fund manager of Amvest Living & Care Fund

Our conclusion

We have performed a limited assurance engagement on the selected non-financial indicators in the Annual Report 2023 (‘the annual report’) of Amvest Living & Care Fund, based in Amsterdam (‘the Fund’).

Based on the procedures performed and the assurance information obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the selected non-financial indicators in the accompanying annual report are not, in all material respects, prepared in accordance with the internal reporting criteria of the Fund as described in the ‘Reporting criteria’ section below.

The selected non-financial indicators are the following:

  • Resident satisfaction

  • GRESB score

  • Energy use intensity (EUI)

  • Carbon emissions

  • Fire safety

  • Water use intensity (WUI)

  • Renovation roadmap

  • Energy performance certificates

  • GPR Certificates score

  • Investing in lower and mid-priced segment

  • Sustainable procurement survey

The selected non-financial indicators that fall within the scope of limited assurance are marked with an astrix (*), disclosed throughout the Annual Report as well as in the Annex ‘KPIs for the purpose of non-financial data in the annual report’ of the Annual Report.

Basis for our conclusion

We performed our limited assurance engagement on the selected non-financial indicators in accordance with Dutch law, including Dutch Standard 3000A ’Assurance-opdrachten anders dan opdrachten tot controle of beoordeling van historische financiële informatie (attest-opdrachten) (assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information (attestation engagements)). This engagement is aimed to obtain limited assurance. Our responsibilities in this regard are further described in the ‘Our responsibilities for the assurance engagement on the selected non-financial indicators’ section of our report.

We are independent of Amvest Living & Care Fund in accordance with the ‘Verordening inzake de onafhankelijkheid van accountants bij assurance-opdrachten’ (ViO, Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, a regulation with respect to independence). Furthermore, we have complied with the ‘Verordening gedrags- en beroepsregels accountants’ (VGBA, Dutch Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants).

We believe the assurance evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our conclusion.

Reporting criteria

The selected non-financial indicators need to be read and understood together with the internal reporting criteria of the Fund. The Fund Manager is solely responsible for selecting and applying these reporting criteria, taking into account applicable laws and regulations related to reporting.

The reporting criteria used for the preparation of the selected non-financial indicators are the applied internal reporting criteria as disclosed in the Annex ‘KPIs for the purpose of non-financial data in the annual report’ of the annual report.

The absence of an established practice on which to draw, to evaluate and measure the non-financial information allows for different, but acceptable, measurement techniques and can affect comparability between entities and over time. Consequently, the non-financial information needs to be read and understood together with the reporting criteria used.

Materiality

Based on our professional judgement we determined materiality levels for each of the selected non-financial indicators. When evaluating our materiality levels, we have taken into account quantitative and qualitative aspects as well as the relevance of information for both stakeholders and the Fund.

Responsibilities of the Fund Manager for the selected non-financial indicators

The Fund Manager is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the non-financial indicators in accordance with the criteria as included in the section ‘Reporting criteria’, including the identification of stakeholders and the definition of material matters. The Fund Manager is also responsible for selecting and applying the criteria and for determining that these criteria are suitable for the legitimate information needs of stakeholders, considering applicable law and regulations related to reporting. The choices made by the Fund Manager regarding the scope of the non-financial indicators and the reporting criteria are summarized in the Annex ‘KPIs for the purpose of non-financial data in the annual report’ of the annual report.

Furthermore, the Fund Manager is responsible for such internal control as it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the non-financial indicators that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Our responsibilities for the assurance engagement on the selected non-financial indicators

Our responsibility is to plan and perform the assurance engagement in a manner that allows us to obtain sufficient and appropriate assurance evidence for our conclusion.

Our assurance engagement is aimed to obtain a limited level of assurance to determine the plausibility of the selected non-financial indicators. The procedures vary in nature and timing from, and are less in extent, than for a reasonable assurance engagement. The level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is therefore substantially less than the assurance that is obtained when a reasonable assurance engagement is performed.

We apply the ‘Nadere Voorschriften Kwaliteitssystemen’ (NVKS, Regulations for Quality management systems) and accordingly maintain a comprehensive system of quality management including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Our assurance engagement included among others:

  • Performing an analysis of the external environment and obtaining an understanding of relevant sustainability themes and issues, and the characteristics of the Fund;

  • Evaluating the appropriateness of the criteria applied, their consistent application and related disclosures of the selected non-financial indicators. This includes the reasonableness of estimates made by the Fund Manager;

  • Obtaining through inquiries a general an understanding of the internal control environment, the reporting processes, the information systems and the Fund’s risk assessment process relevant to the preparation of the selected non-financial indicators, without obtaining assurance information about the implementation or testing the operating effectiveness of controls;

  • Identifying areas of the selected non-financial indicators where misleading or unbalanced information or a material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, is likely to arise.

  • Designing and performing further assurance procedures aimed at determining the plausibility of the selected non-financial indicators responsive to this risk analysis. These procedures consisted amongst others of:

    • Obtaining inquiries from relevant staff responsible for providing the information for, carrying out internal control procedures on, and consolidating the data in the selected non-financial indicators;

    • Obtaining assurance evidence that the selected non-financial indicators reconcile with underlying records of the Fund;

    • Reviewing, on a limited test basis, relevant internal and external documentation;

    • Considering the data and trends.

  • Reading the information in the annual report which is not included in the scope of our assurance engagement to identify material inconsistencies, if any, with the selected non-financial indicators;

  • Considering whether the selected non-financial indicators are clearly and adequately disclosed in accordance with applicable criteria.

We communicate with the Fund Manager regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the assurance engagement and significant findings that we identify during our assurance engagement.

Rotterdam, 19 April 2024

KPMG Accountants N.V.

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