Australian real estate investment trusts (A-REITs) have seen access to debt capital improve as banks are more willing to lend, while new sources of capital, including from super funds, have become more widely available, according to boutique manager Reliance Investment Management.
"Access to debt is getting better, and there are more sources of debt capital," Reliance director Andrew McGrath said. "REITs want to broaden their funding base on the debt side; they want to have a broad base to roll [debt] over, but it is largely supply-side driven," he said.
Super funds have been actively pursuing partnerships with property companies.
Charter Hall, which also owns 50 per cent in Reliance, recently signed deals with UniSuper for a $250 million commercial mortgage backed securities issue, while it also partnered with TelstraSuper to acquire a portfolio of Woolworths supermarkets, in a transaction worth $266 million.
"Super funds have become more educated [on REITs]. The UniSuper transaction was a great deal; the assets are leveraged at 33 per cent, while they still get 180 basis points over swap rate," Reliance director David Curtis said. "It is a good margin on a relatively safe investment."
Banks have also been more lenient with the large trusts, although there have been some indications they are running out of patience with smaller ones, McGrath said.
"We hear in the REIT space that banks are more willing to lend, but not so much in the smaller, developer space. The big, well-capitalised REITs are getting more opportunities, while the small and mid-cap developers are being pulled back by the banks," he said.
Despite improving capital environment for REITs, investment levels have still not recovered from the seismic shock the sector endured during the global financial crisis. "There is still some scar tissue; it is a bit the question of who is first in," McGrath said.
"What we are finding is that people are now more willing to talk to us about REITs. A lot of people are calling," Curtis adds. "We tell them: '[the sector] can learn from the past'," he said.
McGrath and Curtis established Reliance IM after leaving UBS Global Asset Management in 2009. The firm is 50 per cent owned by its staff and 50 per cent by Charter Hall, who supplies the boutique with back office and research.
