Robust year for John Laing fund

Better than expected portfolio growth propelled John Laing Infrastructure Fund to success in its first year as a publicly-traded business. The fund garnered an additional £157m in capital.

John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) is declaring its “first full year of trading” as a public entity a success, citing faster than anticipated growth and a “strong pipeline” from parent company, the UK developer John Laing Group.

JLIF – established in late 2010 and run by John Laing Capital Management – grew its underlying portfolio value 9.2 percent, the fund said, crediting “positive impact” via inflation and noting £109.5 million ($174 million; €132 million) worth of acquisition activity.

The fund touted its fundraising, amounting to £157 million in new capital, which it used to acquire interests in 33 private finance initiative (PFI) schemes and public-private partnerships (PPPs). At  inception, the fund had £270 million in capital.

JLIF has recorded £23.4 million in pre-tax profit and is “in line” to deliver an internal rate of return of between 7 percent and 8 percent.

John Laing chief executive Paul Lester noted JLIF paid its first ever dividend in April.

“Combined with resilient capital growth [JLIF] has delivered a total shareholder return of 12.1 percent for the 13-month period since launch,” Lester explained.

JLIF became a publicly-traded entity in December 2011, listing on the FTSE 250 index.