Equis Group expands infra team with University of Texas exec

Infrastructure and real assets manager Equis Group has expanded its team with the addition of a new partner, who will be based at the firm’s Singapore headquarters.

Mark Warner is joining Equis Group from the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), after 11 years at the endowment, where he held several roles, including interim chief executive and chief investment officer. Most recently, he was senior managing director of natural resources and emerging markets.

In his new role, Warner will primarily focus “on management functions, including overseeing Equis’s operations – including HR, finance and business reporting”, a spokeswoman for Equis told Infrastructure Investor.

He will also take on a “primary role in Equis’s future fundraising initiatives”, the firm said in a statement, citing new investment and growth opportunities it has identified.

“Mark’s extensive experience and involvement in UTIMCO’s co-investment strategy across a broad range of sectors is expected [to] provide additional depth and knowledge to the Equis Investment Committee,” the spokeswoman said, declining to comment further on the opportunities the firm is targeting.

The firm had been an active investor in the renewables sector, establishing Equis Energy, an 11GW platform of generation assets across the Asia-Pacific region, which it sold in January to a consortium comprising Global Infrastructure Partners, Canada’s PSP Investments and China Investment Corporation, for $5 billion, in a deal that was described as “the largest renewable energy generation acquisition in history”. In May, Equis Energy changed its name to Vena Energy.

While Equis Group describes itself as “Asia’s largest independent infrastructure manager,” it is unclear whether the firm will target all infrastructure sectors. According to its website, all its current investments are in energy infrastructure.