The opportunity in Australian private debt markets
Summary
Bank disintermediation leads to opportunities for investors;
The Australian private debt market has traditionally been dominated by the Big 4 banks, supplemented by intermittent foreign banks and a small number of institutional and high net-worth investors.
The resulting power imbalance between borrowers and lenders has ultimately led to credit being provided at far more favourable terms to lenders than those available in the North American and European lending markets.
We believe this market inefficiency has resulted in the opportunity for investors to capture potentially attractive risk-adjusted returns from providing capital-starved businesses with bespoke financing solutions.
We believe the Australian private debt market is highly inefficient and is currently presenting opportunities for institutional investors to capture potentially attractive risk-adjusted returns.
Hiran Wanigasekera, Investment Director
IFM Investors has operated in Australia’s private debt market for the past twenty years, and we are well positioned to partner with institutional investors and help them take advantage of the current shifting investment landscape and opportunity set.
About the author
Executive Director
Hiran Wanigasekera
Joined in 2007
Hiran is responsible for joint management of key credit portfolios, credit product strategies and managing the day-to-day running of debt funds, including jointly managing the IFM Specialised Credit Fund (SCF). Hiran has worked across a wide range of credit sectors and industries including bank lending, corporate credit and structured investments. His experience includes credit analysis, portfolio management and trading. While on secondment in London, Hiran helped established IFM’s Debt presence in Europe and was integral to the development of IFM’s Global Infrastructure Debt strategy. Prior to IFM Investors, Hiran was employed in retail banking with Bank Australia as a Financial Accountant. His responsibilities included treasury operations as well as the trading, hedging, management of liquid assets, financial reporting, modelling and prudential compliance.