The Working Guide To Fund Finance - Netherlands

FUND STRUCTURES IN THE NETHERLANDS

A Dutch alternative investment fund (AIF) may be structured in various ways, both as corporate and contractual entity. Corporate entities have legal personality (rechtspersoonlijkheid), enabling them to hold legal title to assets, and are governed by mandatory corporate law, whereas contractual entities lack such legal personality and are unable to hold legal title, but enjoy the benefit of more contractual freedom. Frequently used corporate investment vehicles are the private limited liability company (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) and the co-operative with excluded liability (coöperatie met uitgesloten aansprakelijkheid). Contractual investment vehicles are commonly established in the form of a limited partnership (commanditaire vennootschap) or a mutual fund (fonds voor gemene rekening). Which type of entity is selected strongly depends on the outcome of relevant tax and legal structuring analyses.