The Coral student accommodation funds, which are not yet available on any other life company unit linked platform, are packaged as the Coral Portfolio, which was established as a brand in 2008 by co-founders John Kennedy and Lawrence Frampton.
Kennedy was formerly founder of institutional property management firm Brandeaux Group, and before that he worked in life companies such as Life Association of Scotland, Target Life and Britannia Life.
Frampton was previously based in Hong Kong as director of Far East operations for Scottish Provident.
Generali’s interest in giving investors exposure to student accommodation as an asset class is in response to increasing interest from across the world, according to Nick Griffin, head of international sales for Generali International.
He said that as an asset class “it is unusual in terms of being truly uncorrelated with stock markets and having a track record of consistently positive returns through different economic conditions”.
He added: “UK universities deservedly enjoy a very strong reputation around the world and there is great potential for both capital growth and high rentals with well-located student accommodation in key cities with prestigious universities.”
The Coral Student Portfolio stands out as the only fund offering access both to a wide range of underlying funds and to different investment strategies, packaged within an EU regulated structure in Luxembourg, Griffin said.
