AMP Capital in new listed hire

AMP Capital, the Sydney-based fund manager, has hired Antonio Barbera for its global listed infrastructure team in London.

Barbera, who joins as a portfolio manager/analyst, was most recently a portfolio manager at Kalis Capital, a global equity manager, where he co-founded the firm’s long/short equity fund.

In his new role, Barbera will be responsible for researching and recommending listed infrastructure companies.

He brings the size of the global listed infrastructure team at AMP Capital to seven investment professionals across the London and Sydney offices. The team is headed by Tim Humphreys, the global head of listed infrastructure.

Speaking at Infrastructure Investor’s recent listed infrastructure roundtable, fellow AMP Capital London-based portfolio manager/analyst, Giuseppe Corona, made the case for listed infrastructure as “a replacement for fixed income but also a liquid alternative to unlisted infrastructure”.

He added: “The likes of IFM and Future Fund have been increasing their exposure to the listed market due to the scarcity of assets and high valuations on the unlisted side. Plus, they are able to deploy their money quicker.”

London has also been the location for a couple of listed infrastructure fundraising announcements. NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF), the London-listed solar power plant investor, today announced the fourth tranche of a placing programme launched in November last year, with up to 95,250,000 further shares being issued.

The issue price will based on the unaudited net asset value (NAV) per share as at 31 August – to be announced on 14 September – plus a premium of 1.75 percent to cover the issue costs.

In making the announcement, NESF also said it would be negotiating an expansion of its debt facilities to £197 million (€269 million; $300 million) for further solar opportunities. It says it has a current pipeline with an investment value of around £179 million and is negotiating further deals with a value of about £335 million.

The firm’s current portfolio of 18 operating plants has a capacity of 235 megawatt peak (MWp) and an investment value of approximately £274 million.

Last week, International Public Partnerships Limited (INPP) – the London listed investor in public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) – announced plans to raise approximately £18 million through a tap issuance.

The proceeds will be used to reduce the drawn element of the company’s debt facility, which is approximately £82 million drawn at present. The firm has committed a further amount via the facility of around £180 million to the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.