Fiscal policy, vaccines and green initiatives are creating waves of change in infrastructure. What exactly is infrastructure now, and most importantly what is not infrastructure? This session examined how the digitalization of economies and the shift to renewable energy offer potential long-term growth opportunities in infrastructure; and how it can play a role in long-term investor portfolios.[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” 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title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]
Key takeaways
In a panel session on opportunities in infrastructure investors noted how technological change is repricing assets and many investors are substituting fixed income with infrastructure debt.
US President Biden’s plans for sweeping infrastructure investment could have important investor consequences around tax cuts and renewables. Driving 5G development will enable greater penetration for tower companies and economically sensitive businesses like freight railway will benefit from growth.
Higher yields can be found in non-investment grade infrastructure allocations, but investors shouldn’t view this as a long-term strategy.
Renewables are often linked to quasi-guaranteed cashflows comprising long-term contracts with lower volatility. In contrast, digital assets will be subject to huge change as the “revolution” continues. Hence the need to adopt a shorter time frame investing in assets over a 3 to 5-year horizon.
In periods of high inflation, infrastructure credit risk falls. This is priced into how debt products are valued in the market, providing a “windfall opportunity.”
Investor areas of focus include renewables, telecoms and digital infrastructure given new trends in remote working.
Data is increasingly helping resolve intermittency challenges in renewables.
Stranded or obsolete assets could spike in traditional energy infrastructure as well as in assets subject to technological change. For example, technological disruption is growing in the satellite space.
Aware Super is considering a return to infrastructure funds after years of favouring direct investments. The infrastructure allocation currently stands at $15 billion and the fund sees benefits to access a “broader set of offerings” and opportunity sets via fund commitments to GPs, its head of infrastructure Mark Hector says.
ADIA is increasing its focus on renewables and digital infrastructure as its infrastructure investments mature and a more sector-led strategy is introduced into the planning process according to Karim Mourad, global head of infrastructure at ADIA.
A new paper by EDHECInfra argues that selecting the right benchmark could completely change investors' preferred asset allocation to infrastructure equity and debt.
A nuanced environment for modelling cash flows and discount rates in infrastructure comes at a time when pension funds globally are looking to invest more heavily in the asset class. So what should investors be looking out for?
Two of the world’s largest pension funds, the $626 billion Dutch APG and the $660 billion National Pension Service of South Korea (NPS), have joined forces in a partnership to invest in private assets including infrastructure and private real estate.
COVID-19 lockdowns have highlighted the risks in infrastructure, that have been there all along. The realisation that infrastructure assets represent significant risk exposures, that should be understood and managed, will determine the coming of age of the infrastructure asset class.
The current coronavirus crisis has exposed many weaknesses, one of them being the chronic under-investment in social infrastructure in most countries – developed and emerging. So what can be done to make this more attractive for investors and meet the need?
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