How ING Is Plotting Its Return to U.S. Lending

ING Finance is eyeing large-scale loans of up to $1B as it looks to regrow its U.S. lending operations, but says it will remain conservative and focused on core.

ING Finance is eyeing the origination of large-scale loans of up to $1B as it looks to regrow its U.S. lending operations.

Michael Shields, Head of Real Estate Finance for Europe and the U.S., says the financial group is focused on large loans of between $500M and $1B that it can syndicate with two to three other banks post-close, in core gateway markets across the U.S. and the four main property types.

However, he says the firm won’t look at hotels and will remain conservative in its underwriting.

Looking ahead in 2016, he expects deal flow to remain as strong as it was in 2015 when ING Finance transacted on €14B of loans, including €9.5B of new originations and €4.5B of extensions. There is, Shields says, “room for growth” in 2016.

You can watch a clip here:

Watch the full video or download the transcript here in which Shields discusses where he sees good opportunities, where there’s risk in the market, and how negative interest rates affect commercial real estate.