Infrastructure PE - Players, career path, etc.

Hi,

Any monkeys with wisdom to impart on Infra PE?

(i) Which players garner respect in the industry other than Macquarie? (not only have capital but are seen as being intelligent investors)
(ii) Does the career path differ from traditional PE? i.e. Is it easier to move into at the Senior Associate/VP level for someone without sector investing experience because it's a less mature asset class than traditional PE?
(iii) How are pension funds and sovereigns viewed in this space? They seem to be more active in infra vs. traditional PE deals where they've largely been limited to co-invests.
(iv) Any other interesting tid bits?

15 Comments
 

I worked at an institutional real estate company this past summer, and they are currently raising an infrastructure fund. There's a big trend at traditional Real Estate companies towards more of a real asset approach. The infrastructure they're looking at on the direct side includes toll roads, ports, airports, pipelines, etc. If this is what you're looking for, maybe start networking with more traditional real estate guys who can put you in touch with some of the infrastructure people. From what I understand, it's a pretty new space for institutional money.

 

All I know is the big Energy Infrastructure players: First Reserve, AIG Highstar, Denham....

In other avenues:

Brookfield infrastructure partners Barclays Infrastructure Funds Citi Infrastructure Investors

-all big operations

‎"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns or dollars."
 
Best Response

After getting my SA position in London (MM, credit trading) the other interns and i have had a bi-weekly conf call with the office, each time with a diff MD or co-head of something to introduce us into the firm.

Infra cap was last week, and i must say, id love to position myself for that very job, whether at the same co or ultimately in PE.

Some points i jotted down from the speaker

-infrastructure very hot in CEE/CIS area -less vol in infra compared to other areas as, even during a credit crunch, if theres no funds for other investments typically there should always be funds for necessities like new airport, bridges, etc etc -lower equity IRR in infra finance -oil & gas projects major sources of revenue (this is probably firm-specific though)

As for exit opps - one guy had asked the speaker a question about "life after infra cap" but the response from the speaker was the sway the Q in a different tone - the guys been in that field for 20yrs and says he wouldnt want to go anywhere else. My hunch however is any other side of PE would be just as useful and willing to take you in, since even though this is an ibank dealing with infra cap, its very comparable to PE as its not just about making a deal and getting the funds but youre typically in with the firm for the long haul.

 

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