First Property has been given £14.5m (€16.5m) by three UK university colleges for a new opportunities fund.

The UK fund manager has been backed by Oxford’s St Catherine’s College and Christ Church, as well as by Robinson College, Cambridge.

The three colleges’ capital has gone into First Property’s Fprop UK Special Opportunities, to invest in commercial property in the UK.

Ben Habib, chief executive, said the fund aimed to invest in higher-yielding commercial property investments with development angles or other ways in which to enhance value.

“The economy of the UK is robust, and we anticipate that this strategy will yield healthy returns for its investors,” he said.

The firm will add a maximum 50% leverage to investments, giving it £30m to invest.