Financial services group Australian Unity Investments expects more interest from super funds to provide loan facilities for commercial property acquisitions.
"Super funds have invested for a long time in the assets, but they are now looking on the debt side," Australian Unity Investments institutional and joint ventures general manager Adam Coughlan said.
"We are having some discussions about them being a lender in the market."
The interest from superannuation funds in providing loans to property investors has been stimulated by the high spreads on commercial property loans that Australian banks are currently charging.
This had left a gap for non-bank lenders to step in, Coughlan said.
"Banks have pushed up the spreads, where loans are now 2-3 per cent over swap rate. They have gone up from 75 basis points to about 200-plus. It then becomes interesting for super funds," he said.
"We are having some early-stage discussions with funds. A couple of our property funds are now getting quite large at $400 million-plus, and it becomes interesting for them to invest.
"When the cost of debt is 8 per cent per annum locked in for three years, and with no equity risk, that is pretty attractive."
Coughlan would not name any of the parties, but said they were sizeable industry funds.
In early 2010, AustralianSuper became the first super fund to provide a loan facility for commercial property, when it made $200 million available to Challenger.
Last week, media reports suggested HESTA was also looking to provide Challenger with a similar amount, although the fund would not confirm the transaction.
