Raising funds in the US private placement market seems to be getting easier for sectors such as property and financial services, which were largely ignored by investors following the global financial crisis."As returns available on loved sectors like retail decrease, investors are now looking at the unloved sectors," said James Waddell, director capital markets origination at National Australia Bank, referring to property and financial services as the two unloved sectors.NAB claims to have completed about half of all US private placement issuance out of Australasia last year and says it is well-positioned for an excellent 2011. The bank has already completed two transactions in 2011, after having acted as a sole or joint lead on eight placements in 2010.In 2010, NAB was involved in the pricing of US$1.9 billion for Australasian issuers across the power, services, gaming, healthcare and broadcast infrastructure sectors, with the largest being the transaction for ElectraNet, for US$350 million of senior secured notes.In 2011, NAB led the deals for UK's Places for People Homes and for Australia's TRUenergy.Waddell says appetite from US investors for corporate debt is growing rapidly as returns from such investments have improved because of an increase in Treasury yields, while for issuers the pricing has improved as spreads have narrowed. "So, for borrowers it is about how much they are paying over risk-free (Treasuries)," said Waddell.And, depending on their quality, there is a reduction in cost of anywhere between 25 to 50 basis points. Apart from better pricing, issuers are also able to get increased duration, which is a major feature of the placement market in the US. "Last year, the average duration was around seven to 10 years, and this has now increased to 10 to 15 years," Waddell said."The interest from Australian borrowers in the USPP market is driven by the need to refinance and extend the maturities of their debt, as well as diversifying their funding sources," Waddell said, in a separate statement from NAB.