The global standard on bank capital adequacy and market liquidity, Basel III, could lead to increased activity in private debt markets, according to Perpetual.
Under the new rules, banks will have to hold more capital in more liquid assets and this could result in a reduction in their appetite for issuing corporate loans, or at least make these loans more expensive.
"For every corporate loan that they have there is a 100 per cent liquidity provision that they need to have. So how are they going to service their clients on an ongoing basis?" Perpetual institutional business general manager Jeremy Rolleston said.
"[You will see more of] the opportunities that come out of the stress that is going to come onto banks from what APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) is making them hold."
Basel III will also likely lead to banks selling some of their long-term investments, as they are required to hold more liquid assets.
This could prove especially attractive to super funds, Perpetual said.
"It will become significantly more expensive for banks to hold long-term assets," Perpetual income and multi-sector group executive Richard Brandweiner said.
"So they will be liquidating them and will be moving towards more liquid, shorter-dated assets.
"Who is the natural owner of longer-dated assets, if it is not the bank? Of course, it is a superannuation fund."
Super funds are especially more likely to participate in private debt markets, as traditional fixed-income assets will become more expensive for them when banks are trying to meet their APRA hurdles.
"Super funds are going to find this a very challenging environment, because the traditional asset yields will get pushed down, which means the prices will go up, which means the returns will fall," Brandweiner said.
"But at the same time there will be very good value in the private debt space, for which they are the natural owners."
Basel III minimum capital requirements will be phased in gradually from 2013, but Rolleston said there were already more opportunities in the private debt space.
Perpetual last year established a secured private debt fund, which holds $175 million in assets.
"The opportunity set was bigger than $175 million. We looked at $1 billion worth of loans," Rolleston said.
The company would establish a second private debt fund and was already in conversation with investors, he said. "This fund will be larger," he said.
The existing private debt fund has generated an annualised return of 8.6 per cent since its inception on 6 July 2011.
