We launched our first Rainmaker 20 list in 2019, and, barring a pandemic-induced dip in 2020 fundraising, the asset class has roared back to rude health, raking in ever-increasing amounts of capital from investors seeking the protection, stability and diversification that infrastructure provides. The result is that 2022 stands a good chance of becoming infrastructure’s largest-ever fundraising year, with an impressive $112.7 billion already raised at the end of H1, equivalent to 75 percent of 2021’s full-year total.

It therefore seems like the right time to take a look behind the numbers and acknowledge the fundraising professionals who are driving the momentum the asset class continues to enjoy. So that is what we set out to do, reaching out to LPs, GPs, placement agents and other service providers around the globe and asking them one simple question: “If you were in the process of raising a fund, who would you want on your team and why?”
That resulted in the names appearing in the second edition of our Rainmaker 20 – a list we consider to be particularly valuable given the nominees were chosen by their peers from outside their own firms.

Read on to find out who’s on this year’s list, who’s making a repeat appearance (look for the * next to their name), and why they were chosen. We hope you find the choices a compelling read.

Roger Ammoun
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Real Assets Investment Management

“Well connected” is how one source described Roger Ammoun, who is the co-founder and managing partner of London-based Real Assets Investment Management.

Having been active in the infrastructure investment industry since 2005, he played a key role in supporting and backing some of the most successful infrastructure GPs in Europe. In 2008, Ammoun joined Credit Suisse Asset Management to help build the European infrastructure investment business that focuses on separately managed accounts. During his 10-year tenure with that business, subsequently sold to GCM Grosvenor, Ammoun was instrumental in building the platform, which reached close to $5 billion in AUM by the end of 2018.

Since leaving GCM Grosvenor and prior to setting up RAIM in mid-2020, Ammoun has played an instrumental role in helping Ancala and Pioneer Point Capital achieve and exceed their fundraising targets.

More recently, Ammoun and his partners at RAIM successfully invested €700 million across three transactions and secured the firm’s first institutional SMA to invest in the European decarbonisation and digitisation infrastructure opportunity.

Bruce Chapman*
Partner
Threadmark

It’s well known that the pandemic effectively put a halt on in-person investor meetings and on-site due diligence, making fundraising more challenging than usual. Despite that, Threadmark, the placement agent Bruce Chapman co-founded more than a decade ago, had its most successful year to date, closing four funds, primarily through virtual meetings and processes. The funds closed in the past year included a $1.4 billion close for Northleaf Capital Partners’ third infrastructure fund; a €570 million final close for Whitehelm Capital’s second European infra vehicle; fundraising for Tiger Infrastructure Partners’ third fund, which closed on $1.25 billion; and helping Nova Infrastructure raise $565 million for its maiden fund.

And while facts and figures are essential to painting a picture, it’s client testimony that really adds the necessary colour.

“Bruce has always been instrumental, not only in accessing great clients but also in helping us position our strategies well,” one source, who has worked with Chapman on several funds, told us. “He helped us make long-term core infrastructure strategies [fashionable] in the market,” this person said.

Gwenola Chambon
CEO and Founding Partner
Vauban Infrastructure Partners

Described as a “strong force” who has contributed both to Vauban Infrastructure Partners’ growth and to thought leadership in the infrastructure sector around topics including social licence to operate and climate change, Gwenola Chambon has more than 25 years’ experience in infrastructure equity investing in Europe.

As one of Vauban’s founding partners and its CEO, Chambon has helped establish the firm as a major player in core infrastructure markets in Europe. In the past year, she led an ambitious hiring plan that saw the recruitment of more than 20 team members, taking the firm’s headcount to 65.

In the last 15 years, Chambon has helped raise more than €7.2 billion across six funds and seven co-investment platforms, deploying capital into more than 70 investments in Europe and the US. Vauban launched its Core Infrastructure Fund strategy in 2015, raising three generations of CIF funds to date, culminating most recently in CIF III, which reached its hard-cap of €2.65 billion in July 2021, above its €2 billion target.

Jérôme Duthu-Bengtzon
Partner
Pantheon

Described by one source as “a one-stop shop for information” on infrastructure deals, Jérôme Duthu-Bengtzon intially joined Pantheon 15 years ago focused on private equity. He now focuses on fundraising for the firm, as well as on executing infrastructure transactions in Europe.

Duthu-Bengtzon joined Pantheon’s infrastructure team in 2014, contributing to the growth of the firm’s platform from nine investment professionals and approximately $1 billion in AUM to a 25-strong team with $19.4 billion in AUM (as of Q4 2021).

In 2021, the team invested $2.6 billion across 41 deals, while Duthu-Bengtzon contributed to fundraising efforts across the infrastructure platform, as well as marketing and fundraising for Pantheon Infrastructure PLC, which completed a successful IPO on its hard-cap of £400 million ($482 million; €475 million) in November 2021.

His expertise has helped Pantheon “significantly stand out” from competitors, one source told us.

Leslie Wolff Golden
Managing Director, Global Head of Capital Formation and Investor Relations
DigitalBridge Group

Leslie Wolff Golden heads DigitalBridge’s capital formation team and has played a key role in helping position the firm as one of the leading digital infrastructure players in the market today.

As one source put it, her “relentless dedication and strategic approach to capital raising” was a major factor in the “blow-out fundraising success” that was DigitalBridge Partners II, the firm’s second flagship fund, which closed on $8.3 billion in December 2021 – $2.3 billion above target. The fund saw a 100 percent re-up rate from its predecessor, too, based on committed capital.

DigitalBridge continues to launch new strategies and has established a large co-investment programme in excess of $20 billion. Golden is set to help the firm’s LP base grow further in the months and years ahead to capitalise on the digital infrastructure mega-trend.

Ciaran Henry
Senior Vice-President, Head of Distribution Europe & Asia
Fiera Capital

In his current role, Ciaran Henry oversees and leads Fiera Capital’s fundraising activities and distribution team across the firm’s alternatives platform in Europe and Asia.

Henry “has played a key role in socialising Fiera’s infrastructure business with investors around the world, which has seen steady growth in a very competitive market,” one source said. “His strength is his strategic approach to relationship building. [He’s also] understated and polite to a fault, to boot.”

While he has more than 20 years’ experience in the investment industry, it wasn’t until 2012, when he joined Instar Asset Management, that he started his infrastructure fundraising career, helping that firm raise C$740 million ($573 million; €564 million) for its first North American mid-market fund. In 2017, he joined Fiera Capital to establish the firm’s fundraising programme in Europe and Asia for its global open-end mid-market infrastructure strategy and to establish its UK sales and marketing operations, while working alongside Alina Osorio, president at Fiera Infrastructure.

Adil Haque
Partner
EQT

Adil Haque’s “deep knowledge of his investors” has earned his peers’ admiration, as has his “economic judgment [and] thoughtfulness” and his “reliability”. These attributes have helped EQT’s client relations and capital raising team for the Americas, which Haque co-heads, increase commitments from Americas-based LPs 10-fold during his tenure. Since 2014, Haque has been part of a global team that has raised roughly €30 billion in infrastructure fund commitments and several billions in co-investments.

An engineer by education, his career has spanned consulting, investing, client relations, marketing, strategy development and fundraising. In addition to his fundraising track record, Haque also dedicates his time and energy to social issues. He is a member of the US National Diversity Council and a National Advisory Member for Zaman International, an organisation committed to improving the lives of marginalised women and children.

Nic Hyde
Managing Director, Client and Partner Group
KKR

Nic Hyde began his career more than 30 years ago in fixed income and derivatives sales. But it wasn’t until 2010 that he made the switch to funds management, when he joined Wellington Management.

In 2016 he joined IFM Investors as director of global investor relations, a role he held until he decamped to KKR in May 2020.

Since coming on board, he has closed on substantial new commitments in the launch of the KKR Diversified Core Infrastructure Fund, the fundraise of the $17 billion Global Infrastructure IV and a number of large co-investment deals alongside KKR’s dedicated co-investment team, located in New York, a spokeswoman said.

A client who has worked with Hyde spoke highly of his “deep understanding of the Australian superannuation sector, as well as each of the private market sectors”.

“Nic bridges the gap between global managers and domestic requirements, [and] works endlessly to represent our interests and source co-investment opportunities. And he is a pleasure to work with,” the client said.

Steen Lønberg Jørgensen
Partner, Head of Investor Relations and Fundraising
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners

Steen Lønberg Jørgensen “has overseen the highly successful growth of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, raising tens of billions of dollars”, a source told us. “He has been the key driver behind this growth.”

Indeed, CIP has grown significantly during the nearly seven years Jørgensen has served as head of investor relations and fundraising. Aside from overseeing fundraising across CIP’s five fund strategies – totalling more than €15 billion between 2016 and 2022 – Jørgensen has been instrumental in developing and raising CIP’s market-pioneering renewables funds. He has also helped build a strong IR team of more than 25 professionals across offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

Recent achievements of the IR team include the closing of CI IV in 2020 on €7.5 billion, making it the largest dedicated greenfield renewables fund ever raised globally; as well as raising €3 billion for CI Energy Transition I, billed as the largest green hydrogen/green fuels-focused vehicle raised to date.

“He runs a very professional sales team and understands his business and value proposition very well,” our source added.

*Since publication, Jørgensen has announced he has departed CIP to join real estate firm Heimstaden, as head of capital raising and client relations.

Vittorio Lacagnina
Partner, Institutional Client & Product Solutions
Apollo Global Management

Vittorio Lacagnina joined Apollo Global Management this May, bringing a wealth of product expertise, expansive networks across the US, Europe and Australia, and extensive experience in both capital raising and investing, which he gained during his 25-year career in the industry.

Before moving to Apollo to lead capital formation for its infrastructure business – the firm is reportedly planning to launch its third infrastructure fund later this year – Lacagnina served as managing director at Swiss investment firm Partners Group from 2018. There, he led business development for infrastructure, including the close of its third direct infrastructure programme on $8.5 billion, and played a key role in originating investments across power grid resiliency and water sustainability, among other areas.

At QIC, which he joined in 2014, Lacagnina served as head of global clients, North America and Europe. He joins Apollo at a time when the firm continues to significantly invest in and accelerate the growth of its infrastructure franchise, having closed Apollo Infrastructure Opportunities Fund II on $2.5 billion in January.

Antony Kirwan
Managing Director
Macquarie Asset Management

A managing director at Macquarie Asset Management, Antony Kirwan works within a global team responsible for client services, capital raising, marketing and product and business development. His main focus is, of course, infrastructure, where he fosters relationships with institutional and wholesale investors across Australia and New Zealand while sourcing capital for local and offshore opportunities.

Kirwan “does a good job of catering to investor needs to raise capital and build partnerships in the notoriously tricky – and fee-sensitive – Australasian market”, one source told us.

He played a role in helping to raise approximately A$6.4 billion ($4.4 billion; €4.4 billion) from Australian investors for MAM in the year to 31 March 2022, with capital committed to a wide range of regional and global funds and co-investments, including the firm’s third Asia Infrastructure Fund and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners V in North America. Kirwan is also portfolio manager for Macquarie Private Infrastructure Fund.

Sébastien Lecaudey*
Senior Partner, Investor Relations
Antin Infrastructure Partners

Having worked at Antin Infrastructure Partners since its inception in 2007, Sébastien Lecaudey has helped raise €22 billion for the firm. He now serves on its investment committee.

Antin’s rise has been rapid, with the firm now counting a client base of more than 200 investors in around 30 countries. A major part of that success has been due to the firm’s expansion from its pure-play infrastructure approach, a shift that Lecaudey played a key role in driving.

Antin Infrastructure Partners Mid Cap I, which marked the firm’s return to the mid-market, was completed entirely virtually during 2021, hitting its hard-cap of €2.2 billion in just four months, while fundraising for NextGen Fund I has also been moving at speed, launching in Q4 2021 with a €1.2 billion target and passing €800 million as of the firm’s most recent annual results.

Overall, Lecaudey directed a fundraising operation that saw AUM increase by 12.8 percent over the 12 months to 30 June 2022. The firm launched its fifth flagship fund in March with a target of €10 billion and expects to hold a first close in Q3 this year.

Guillermo Marroquin
Partner
Campbell Lutyens

Guillermo Marroquin is responsible for Campbell Lutyens’ North American real assets practice, taking on the role following stints as a managing director at Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets in Chicago and in debt capital markets with Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan and Bank of New York.

Marroquin has advised several clients for Campbell Lutyens over the last two years, including Manulife and 3i, as well as Stonepeak on its Global Renewables Fund, which closed on $2.75 billion in mid-2021. Campbell Lutyens acted as global placement agent for the latter, helping to secure commitments from a diverse group of investors in 15 different countries. The fund surpassed its original $1.25 billion target to hit its hard-cap.
“Very personable, reliable and trustworthy,” is how one source described him, adding that “he doesn’t sell what he doesn’t believe in himself”.

Ronak Patel
Partner
Campbell Lutyens

Working out of Campbell Lutyens’ London office, Ronak Patel has been with the firm since 2006 and has played a major role in the development of the firm’s fund placement business, focusing in recent years on advising infrastructure clients on capital raisings and strategies.

Patel was promoted to partner and joined the firm’s global leadership team in July 2020, having worked on close to 50 fundraisings since joining Campbell Lutyens from Deloitte more than 15 years ago. His responsibilities today include leading key LP relationships in Europe, particularly in the UK and the Netherlands.

The last two years have seen him “combine the right sales skills with a deep understanding of the products”, according to one source, to advise on several successful fundraising campaigns, including the close of Meridiam’s fourth European greenfield fund on €2.3 billion; the close of Infranode’s second long-term Nordic core fund on €1.2 billion; Manulife’s second mid-market North American fund, which closed on $4.65 billion; and Stonepeak’s $2.75 billion Global Renewables Fund.

Alexander Rayden
Senior Managing Director
Evercore

Described as “a true force of nature” by an industry insider, Alexander Rayden, who is a founding member of Evercore’s Private Funds Group, is responsible for team coverage of institutional investors across Europe and the Middle East. He is involved in all aspects of originating, developing and managing global capital raising mandates for financial sponsors across multiple strategies, including buyout, infrastructure, private debt, energy and real estate.

“Don’t be mistaken by the flamboyant façade and loquacious charm,” this insider said. “Behind that is a steely resolve, fierce attention to detail and drive to give clients what they want. Having difficulty getting capacity in a well-subscribed fund like I Squared Capital’s? Look no further than Alex as the man to have in your corner.”

It seems several LPs had Rayden, also known as A-Ray, in their corner when committing capital to I Squared Capital’s Global Infrastructure Fund III – one of the most recent infrastructure funds Rayden worked on – which closed in April on $15 billion, well above its $13 billion hard-cap.

Michel-André Volle
Global Head of Investor Relations & Funding Solutions
Meridiam

In the three years Michel-André Volle has served as global head of investor relations at Meridiam, the Paris-based firm has changed its status to that of a Benefit Corporation and seen its AUM increase nearly 80 percent from €8.5 billion in 2019 to more than €15 billion as of last September. Of that total, €5 billion was raised across five new funds, all in compliance with Article 9 of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

They include two successor funds: Meridiam Sustainable Infrastructure Europe IV fund, which closed on its €2.3 billion hard-cap five months after its launch; and its second Africa-focused infrastructure vehicle, for which it had raised €500 million at the time.

The other three are first-time funds: a blended finance, impact fund launched in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund; the Green Impact Growth Fund; and the Meridiam Sustainable Waste & Water Fund, established for the acquisition of the “new Suez”.

James Wardlaw*
Partner
Federated Hermes

James Wardlaw is a highly experienced infrastructure professional with more than 23 years of experience in the sector. His past roles include working as a UK Treasury official responsible for major infrastructure projects; as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch; and as an adviser to the UK Regulators Network, an association of the UK’s 14 regulators spanning transport, utilities and finance.

Following those roles, he was head of the infrastructure practice at Campbell Lutyens, eventually serving as vice-chairman and joining the placement agent’s global advisory board. He still retains the latter role, but most recently left Campbell Lutyens to join Federated Hermes, relaunching the firm’s infrastructure offering and helping to build out its private markets platform.

Wardlaw’s most recent roles have been client-focused, with an emphasis on investors in Europe and Asia, helping them make better decisions around infrastructure allocations while assisting with GP fundraisings. That has earned him praise as “the most impressive fundraiser I have seen”, according to one source.

Annabel Wiscarson
Managing Director & Head of Investor Relations
Global Infrastructure Partners

Less than five years at infrastructure heavyweight GIP and Annabel Wiscarson has already made her mark. Since assuming the role of head of investor relations in London, the team has tripled in size and is working with GIP’s several hundred investors across its flagship, emerging markets, core and credit strategies, SMAs and co-investments, as well as new product development.

As one source told us: “She’s a true collaborator. GIP’s growth in AUM since she joined is a testament to her talent.”

Indeed, the firm’s AUM has grown from roughly $45 billion to more than $80 billion during her tenure – a total that includes the $22 billion final close of GIP’s fourth infrastructure fund in 2019, still the industry’s largest closed-end fund.

Her track record has been in the making since 2001, when she joined Macquarie Asset Management, raising two first-time funds for the firm – MEIF 1 in 2004 and MIP 1 in 2007. After nearly a decade at Macquarie, Wiscarson moved to another Australian outfit – IFM Investors – to lead its European investor relations team. And she achieved all of the above before celebrating her 40th birthday.

Brenden Woods*
Senior Managing Director, Investor Relations
Stonepeak

“Willing to go above and beyond to meet client asks”, according to one source, Stonepeak senior managing director Brenden Woods has played a significant role in helping the fund manager raise more than $15 billion of capital since January 2021. Highlights for the firm, and on which Woods was a key player, include the final close of its fourth flagship fund on $14 billion in January 2022, the final close of its inaugural Global Renewables Fund on $2.75 billion in July 2021, and the execution of $11.2 billion in co-investment opportunities for LPs.

Described as “trustworthy” and “always a pleasure to work with”, Woods has also been heavily involved in launching several new infrastructure strategies for Stonepeak, including platforms focused on global core assets, the mid-market and Asia.

Prior to joining Stonepeak, Woods founded and led the infrastructure and real assets business at StepStone and was a managing director at Macquarie Group.

Winnie Wutte
Founding Partner
Asterion Industrial Partners

Winnie Wutte is a founding partner and member of the investment committee at Asterion Industrial Partners, co-leading the firm as it has quickly grown into a diverse team of 38 people across offices in Madrid and London.

Since its launch less than four years ago, Asterion has reached approximately €4 billion in assets under management, including co-investments. Wutte recently contributed to the final close of Asterion Fund II on €1.84 billion, in January 2022, with the hard-cap raised from €1.5 billion, as well as helping to generate and raise co-investment capital of more than €1 billion.

Focused on client relationships, Wutte has helped to bring in global institutional investors to the new Asterion platform. Her role on the firm’s investment committee has also seen her deliver on differentiated deals for those clients at the same time as achieving strong ESG standards – all during the volatility of the covid-19 pandemic and other market uncertainty.