Australia

The Canadian pension and the Australian core fund acquired a stake held by MIRA-managed The Infrastructure Fund to take full joint control of the asset.

The two profit-for-member funds have delayed their merger date by six months due to concerns about market volatility and to help ease staff working arrangements.

Two of Australia’s largest funds, AustralianSuper and UniSuper, have booked significant devaluations of their unlisted asset portfolios in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Airports in Australia have been hit hard by coronavirus, just as in almost every other country. How bad is the situation and what will Australian asset managers do to mitigate the impact?

Plenary Americas’ senior management will retain a minority equity stake in the business, while CDPQ will take a near-90% interest in the PPP portfolio.

Travel restrictions and market volatility mean that neither a private sale or public listing are currently viable, but Brookfield intends to re-start the sale process at an undetermined date.

Managers should get ready for internationalisation, downward pressure on fees and bigger private capital allocations, should the current wave of mergers come to pass.

Speaking at a conference in Sydney, Mark Delaney highlighted the stronger-than-expected returns generated by infrastructure in comparison to bonds.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announces a scoping study with proceeds to be reinvested in infrastructure in a continuation of the state’s asset recycling programme.

The two funds, which both count public-sector workers among their membership, say a merger will lead to stronger returns and lower fees for members.