Colonial First State expands global infra team

Colonial First State Global Asset Management has made two appointments to the team to continue the growth and development of its global infrastructure business.

Asieh Mansour, who is based in the US as a senior advisor to the Townsend Group, will join the board to oversee the firm’s global infrastructure fund, while Graham Dooley joins from Blue Sky Group as an Australia-based senior advisor to help source and execute investment opportunities, primarily in the water sector. 

Mansour is a real asset economist with 25 years’ experience in the industry. As a former head of Americas Research for CBRE and chief economist and global strategist for RREEF, she is expected to identify emerging trends and translate complex economic issues into actionable strategies, CFSGAM said in a statement. 

Dooley, with 45 years’ experience across the public and private sectors, oversaw the development of 16 projects in Australia with a value of A$2 billion ($1.52 billion; €1.36 billion). He also worked on successful tenders for water and sewerage businesses in the Philippines and Malaysia. 

“With changes to water industry regulations in most Australian states, it is now possible for institutional investors like CFSGAM to invest in regulated water utilities and similar infrastructure in the municipal, irrigation and industrial water sectors across Australia,” Dooley said in a statement. “In other countries where this approach is already established, I have seen the benefits that new sources of capital can bring to both utilities and their customers.”

CFSGAM is the investment management arm of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and managed over $199 billion in assets as at 30 June. The portfolio of core infrastructure assets delivered an annualised gross return of 13.6 percent, according to its website.