An article published in Citywire Wealth Manager on 10 July, 2025, presents a recent study by the EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute (EIPA) that surveyed 79 institutional investors and service providers on valuation practices:

“EDHEC’s infrastructure and private assets division said there was clear evidence of ‘variability and inconsistency in valuation practices’ in unlisted infrastructure assets.

In a report, Timothy Whittaker, director of infrastructure and private assets research, highlighted several areas of improvement that need to be addressed. These include conservatism in valuations, with 76% of respondents selling assets at prices above their latest net asset value (NAV); and an over reliance on management forecasts with over 60% relying on these with limited independent challenge.

He also noted that there was a lack of responsiveness to market conditions, with just one-third of respondents adjusting valuations during market turbulance. Another issue is methodoligcal fragmentation, as respondents were found to be employing widely divergent approaches to critical inputs, from discount-rate construction to terminal-value estimations.”

Read the full article.