CB Richard Ellis' Real Estate Finance team (CBRE REF), has been appointed as investment adviser to Coral Student Portfolio (Coral), a student accommodation fund-of-funds which provides investors with access to a range of specialist vehicles typically only available to the institutional market. CBRE REF will begin working for Coral from 1 July 2011.

CBRE REF will provide investment advice to the fund including assistance with its overall strategy, monitoring investments and identifying investment opportunities. The team will be headed by Tony Martin and Rod Lockhart of CBRE REF, which offers institutional, financial and property company clients real estate investment advice ranging from global portfolio strategies to asset lease restructuring. This is the team's third new retained mandate win since January 2010 and brings its client base to five including The Crown Estate, Merseyside Pension Fund and the BBC Pension Trust.

Coral currently invests in established UK funds and joint ventures and is also positioned to benefit from emerging opportunities in Western Europe. Since launching in March 2009, the fund has produced a total return of over 20% and its strong track record of results has attracted regular levels of new capital from high net worth investors across the globe, including the Middle East and Asia as well as Europe.