The new code was introduced to reflect changes in the regulation and accounting practice and to reflect Aref’s increasingly wide membership base. The code provides investors with a level of disclosure across key areas that are comparable with their publicly quoted counterparts. The aim of the code is to ensure that real estate funds, their decisions, their investors and fund managers are provided with transparency, consistency and comparability between funds, accountability, standards of best practice and consistent disclosure across funds. Although Aref membership is voluntary, more and more large public and corporate bodies require funds to be members before they are considered as an investment opportunity.