Solaris Investment Management has been awarded a mandate by Colonial First State's (CFS) FirstChoice Boutique Australian Share Fund.

The mandate takes Solaris's funds under management to $3.4 billion since inception in January 2008.

Denis Donohue, managing director at Solaris, said the firm managed to gain $240 million in retail flows and some $2.5 billion in institutional mandates amid a "difficult year".

"Total FUM has grown rapidly, thanks in part to the confidence shown by advisers and institutional investors in our boutique Australian equities funds management model.

"With inherent capacity constraints, we are currently looking to grow retail FUM in our Core Australian Equity Fund to over $2 billion," said Donohue.

Solaris' Core Australian Equity Fund is currently available to retail investors and advisers through 15 platforms, including major platforms such as Asgard, BT Wrap, Macquarie Wrap and FirstWrap.

Adrian Whittingham, a director at Pinnacle Investment Management and a director of distribution for Solaris, said the team has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index every financial year for the last 11 years.