CDPQ

“I’m pleasantly surprised that climate change remained top of mind – and despite lockdowns and travel restrictions, our investment teams around the world were able to continue deploying our constructive capital in a robust infrastructure market.”

Bayerische Versorgungskammer

“Our biggest surprise in 2021 was the interest of GPs in raising core funds; the strong performance [of the asset class] in 2021; and the lack of GPs focusing on pursuing mid-market opportunities/funds.”

Barclays Bank UK

“It has been encouraging to see more funds launching that focus on climate solutions beyond traditional renewable energy-generation assets. Such funds offer investors the opportunity to invest in newer technologies such as energy efficiency, with attractive returns that have traditionally been less scalable or accessible to larger infrastructure investors.”

PKA

“The lion’s share of our infrastructure investments are in renewable energy. The biggest surprise in 2021 was the continued growth in demand for renewable energy projects and the corresponding lowering of expected returns – especially in European offshore wind.”

AustralianSuper

“The biggest surprise from an infrastructure investing perspective is that valuations in the sector were relatively robust, which, whilst great for our existing portfolio, did not offer up as many opportunities as we would have hoped for in terms of new investments.”

AIMco

“The biggest surprise in 2021 was the rapid and dramatic shift in focus to energy transition opportunities, which are now being seen by many as a means to help mitigate climate related risk in their portfolios.”

Allianz Capital Partners

“In the second year of the global pandemic, we were pleasantly surprised to observe that asset portfolios constructed with a significant exposure to core infrastructure and regulated networks in particular were highly resilient to the ensuing uncertainties. The essential services provided remained very much in demand and the regulatory frameworks under which they operate proved robust and stable.”

REST

“We’ve been surprised by increased demand for infrastructure and are seeing continued large inflows from asset allocators, even after the deal backlog from covid has cleared. There has also been greater focus on ESG, and resilience in valuations, which is important given that we are surrounded by significant instability in listed markets.”

CalSTRS

“One of the long-term trends we foresee over the next several years is the gradual move from centralised infrastructure toward decentralised infrastructure. In 2021, we were surprised by the rapid shift toward decentralised infrastructure in the digital communications and logistics subsectors.”

PensionDanmark

“We have been pleasantly surprised by the resilience of infrastructure projects in general in relation to the continued covid crisis in 2021.”

CBUS

“The number of quality Australian infrastructure assets that have remained domestically owned, particularly in telecommunications, [is surprising]. This is not only an outstanding outcome for Australian retirees, but demonstrates the sophistication and acumen of Australian superannuation funds, who are now capable of investing directly in complex assets and beating strong global competition.”