The need for speed

As infrastructure returns are seldom affected by the swing of the economic cycle, managers are increasingly seeing the benefits of the low-risk asset class

Infrastructure investment has hit the headlines recently with the unveiling of the gleaming new St. Pancras station and merger and acquisition activity in the water sector. It is already a popular choice for pension fund managers, who like its long-term predictable income stream, defensiveness and lack of correlation to other asset classes. A number of managers have now launched infrastructure funds in the UK retail market, including Macquarie, HSBC and First State. As other income-generative sectors like commercial property and corporate bonds remain weak, will infrastructure investment ...