Five Australian superannuation funds supplied one quarter of the $US865 million raised by Macquarie Global Property Advisors for its ongoing foray into the Japanese real estate market.

Australian industry, government and commercial funds were among the 22 investors in the fund, many of whom were European. Some investors’ applications were cut back and others’ rejected since the fund was over-subscribed by $US300 million. “We are seeing more and more funds making allocations to direct international real estate,” Christopher Andrews, division director for Macquarie real estate capital, said. This indicates “investors’ appetite for continued exposure to the recovering Japanese real estate market,” he said. The Japan Core Plus Fund recently acquired a 13-property portfolio for JPY9.25 billion (US$80.8 million), which included nine residential and four office properties in greater Tokyo, greater Nagoya, Fukuoka and Hiroshima. After leverage, the fund wields a buying power of $US2.5 billion and targets Japan’s office, residential, retail, industrial and logistics sectors. It hopes to achieve a net return of 10-12 per cent each year.