Infrastructure
Over the past 20 years, infrastructure investments have blossomed beyond municipal bonds and other traditional structure, offering investors new and more diverse alternatives to ground floor investments into the development of new regional assets and the rehabilitation and redevelopment of fully depreciated assets.
Independent third-party advisors capitalize on their infrastructure knowledge and experience of the analysts and consultants in their networks to identify infrastructure opportunities that deliver long-term income and capital growth from investments in rail, road, and air transportation systems, renewable energy production, clean water delivery, wastewater management, and large-scale public real estate projects.
Privatized infrastructure investments in established and emerging markets are on a par with projects that have historically financed through tax receipts. Independent third-party infrastructure advisors stay ahead of those investment opportunities to give their clients optimum access to them.
An Infrastructure Perspective
As with all investments, infrastructure offers no guarantees. A sound perspective on infrastructure investing removes a significant part of this uncertainty by balancing fundamental analysis of the political environment and the geographic demands of each investment to deliver recommendations that balance risk with long-term returns and regular income. Independent third-party advisors rely on their local presence, financial expertise, knowledge of applicable laws and regulations, and creativity in forming infrastructure investments that deliver the most consistent returns that may be available.
-
The most well-respected advisors use their industry presence and research skills to identify viable infrastructure projects that have strong fundamentals.
-
They eliminate projects that have a superficial appeal, but that pose an excessive risk due to political characteristics, ineffective management, or unacceptable levels of local opposition
-
They form partnerships and joint ventures to manage risk and to increase each project’s value proposition for their clients
-
To the fullest extent possible, they take an active management position to safeguard investments and to gain insights from other managers on each project
-
They time investment exits to coincide with market and value peaks, and then evaluate each infrastructure investment to inform subsequent opportunities.
An Independent Advisor’s Reputation and Experience Open New Infrastructure Prospects
The most well-respected independent third-party infrastructure advisors regularly invest in infrastructure debt and equity. They use their presence in the market to maintain their status as a key strategic leader in new infrastructure investment prospects.
Equity Infrastructure Investments
Investors benefit directly from the copious participation of independent third-party infrastructure advisors in the infrastructure investment market. Those advisors have distinguished themselves with their experience in the origination of new infrastructure investment vehicles, administration and, management of funding for infrastructure projects, and the realization of stable returns in a risk-managed environment. They base their recommendations on:
-
thorough and proprietary research techniques
-
consultation with industry professionals that are at the forefront of major infrastructure projects
- due diligence and financial analysis that goes beyond a cursory review of available data
-
full disclosure of research and analysis processes to investors, both at the outset of a project and throughout its lifespan
-
reports and information are delivered with a view toward their trusted status among peers and other analysts and consultants in the infrastructure development industries.
Debt Infrastructure Investments
Interest rates are at historic lows, demand for financing continues to expand as more infrastructure developments are proposed and approved. Independent third-party infrastructure advisors work closely with infrastructure planners around the world to facilitate new debt instruments dedicated to economic and social development.
The infrastructure debt expertise that those advisors bring to the forefront extends to high-yield instruments, investment-grade bonds, tax increment repayment structures, and partnerships, and other consortiums to fund new projects. They advise private and institutional clients on mechanisms for commingled investments as well as silo investment opportunities.
A client’s strategic goals and requirements are at the foundation of all of their recommendations. They start with that foundation and proceed through a disciplined debt infrastructure investment process:
-
for investments in which they intend to take the lead, they identify specific projects and reach out to prospective partners, merchant and investment banks, and community sponsors
-
they conduct extensive due diligence with multiple project scenarios to assess minimum and maximum anticipated returns and growth
-
they form dedicated teams to develop the optimum investment structure for all participants in the project
-
they monitor the project from its onset through to completion and beyond to verify full performance and to eliminate unanticipated problems.
Listed Infrastructure Investments
Exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles have expanded the universe of listed infrastructure investments to a previously untapped group of investors. Independent third-party infrastructure advisors research and identify listed products that match an investor’s defined portfolio goals. They also perform independent discounted cash flow and other financial analyses on those products. They refine their recommendations to include only the vehicles that demonstrate the most reliable performance and long-term potential. In every case, their recommendations consider the investor’s tolerance for risk, need for diversity among industry sectors and geographic regions, and desire for the maintenance of core asset value or addition of alpha value.
A Verifiable Infrastructure Investment Strategy and Management
The optimum infrastructure portfolio strategies are always a function of an investor’s unique wealth management plan. In general, independent third-party infrastructure advisors seek a balanced portfolio with both core and core-plus-alpha components that offer diversity, risk management, and growth and cash flow.