"What defines an infrastructure asset?"
This weird question I got asked today by an infrastructure IB. I had no idea how to answer it, despite the fact that I worked on infra deals before. I am genuinely struck by how much of a dumbass I am, I cant start to form a coherent answer that it's actually pissing me tf off.
Answer, please?
anything that you can make having stable/predictable cashflows - infra characteristics!
That's what I said but the interviewer was basically trying to tell me that's too broad and vague
Any physical asset that provides essential services?
not necessarily, lot of core+ and value add infra funds invest in stable / recession resilient / contractual revenue based businesses that are asset light, targeting c15% returns (for instance, the GS infra fund invested in a german healthcare business that does lab testing/pathology) - the traditional definition of infra (toll roads, oil pipelines, airports, seaports) is somewhat outdated - do any core funds still play in that space (high single digit returns)? absolutely, but the definition of infra has expanded significantly
Having a broad mandate and pushing the boundary to invest in healthcare doesn’t mean that healthcare is infra
infra is a hard asset that provides a benefit to a large number of people
expanded recently to include digital given the growth and need in that sector.
there is typically very granular and difficult permitting with long development timelines in exchange for contracted cash flows of varying duration (probably does not apply to digital)
I literally work in infrastructure private equity and I'm having difficulty answering the question succinctly, so it's a shit interview question - don't feel bad you didn't get it.
I'd say the main characteristics of "core" infrastructure are:
There's definitely more but those are the main buckets in my view. It gets murkier once you get into Core+ / Opportunistic (waste management is not a monopoly, renewable DevCos are mostly valued on platform premium vs. contracted cash flows, air cargo can be fiercely competitive on price, etc.)
Also if not highly contracted cash flows then very credit worthy blue chip counterparties, or very stable customer base with high customer retention
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