This paper argues that there is no reason for investors in unlisted infrastructure to continue using absolute return or ‘cash +’ benchmarks. It calls for investors to abandon them and adopt market-relative benchmarks based on fair value and representative data.
Infra unknowns – key questions that need to be answered
As someone who straddles both the academic and finance worlds I’m always interested in research that can help better inform asset managers. My main interest is in infrastructure finance, having been involved in the field in some way or another over the last 15 years. So, I’m always interested in reading new research on infrastructure finance, hoping it might provide … Read More
Superannuation Fund and unlisted assets, why the fuss?
There has been a lot of commentary in the Australian financial press about superannuation funds exposure to unlisted assets and how this is putting retirement incomes at risk. Grant Wilson in the AFR ($) wrote that: “The failure by super funds to write down unlisted assets appropriately has created a dangerous instability(sic) that could cost ordinary Australians their life savings … Read More
Do unlisted infrastructure investors live dangerously?
Infrastructure businesses are usually impacted by the tail end of recessions as demand for essential services flags or public counterparty risks increase. But from the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, it was clear that infrastructure was going to be impacted before every other business. The initial phase of this crisis was not an economic shock but a state of emergency … Read More
Know your TICCS®, understand your risks
Infrastructure index provider EDHECinfra releases 2020 version of its industry-backed infrastructure investment taxonomy, which enables investors to build customised benchmarks reflecting the true risk exposures of their infrastructure portfolios. Since its launch in 2018, The Infrastructure Companies Classification Standard or TICCS® has become an industry standard and is widely used by infrastructure investors to categorise their assets and better understand … Read More
UK Water Utilities: Why the negative returns in 2019Q4?
[mathjax] In this note, we provide some details and clarifications about our 2019Q4 index release with a focus on the performance of UK water utilities. Our 16th January release mentions that upward movements in gilt rates in the last months of 2019 led to negative returns for numerous infrastructure companies in that quarter, especially firms with very long-term cash flow … Read More