Whitehelm hires deputy head of infra debt

Nick Stockdale, formerly head of export & structured finance at Barclays Investment Bank, has joined Whitehelm Capital as its new deputy head of infrastructure debt.

Stockdale will report to head of infrastructure debt Alexander Waller and will be responsible for originating new transactions as well as focusing on capital raising. He brings over 20 years of financial markets experience and had been at Barclays since 2000.

Infrastructure debt is an important part of Whitehelm’s business, with over A$1.3 billion ($957 million; €843 million) invested since inception across the likes of Alpha Trains, TDF and Autovia del Noroeste. The strategy is returning north of 10 percent.

In this month’s keynote interview, founder and chief investment officer Graham Matthews explained he sees a lot of relevant value in infrastructure debt these days, especially in the junior debt space. “[We can] secure infrastructure assets with a 400 to 600 basis points margin over swap rates in a preferred position in the capital structure compared to equity, but generating returns that aren’t that different and in some cases might turn out to be higher than equity,” Matthews said.

Whitehelm has been investing in infrastructure through separate account arrangements for the past 18 years, with Matthews recently relocating to London to expand the manager’s client base. During that period, it has closed 86 transactions across the globe. It currently manages a portfolio of 37 infrastructure assets, more than A$4.5 billion in funds under management and advises on around A$15 billion of capital across infrastructure equity, debt and real estate.