Infracapital win Infrastructure Manager of the year at the European Pensions Awards 2020
At one of the most challenging times in pension fund investment, infrastructure’s resilient characteristics and the essential nature of the asset class continue to attract interest from pension fund investors. The Infrastructure Manager of the Year award recognises those players that have the expertise to understand this complex asset class and work to invest pension funds responsibly to reap potential attractive returns.
The judges praised Infracapital for consistently demonstrating its ability to provide pension fund investors with different means to access essential infrastructure and deliver attractive diversified infrastructure portfolios committed to sustainability.
2019 marked the year of Infracapital’s 50th investment, since its formation nearly two decades ago, in Novos, a 60MW wind portfolio in Finland, supporting EU commitments to be carbon neutral by 2050. In 2020, the firm added yet another strong year to its Repertoire completing deployment across both its greenfield and brownfield strategies in businesses with a real scope to deliver sustainable returns from Fibrus and Spectrum, opportunities to transform the digital landscape across underserved communities in Northern Ireland and South Wales respectively, to Zenobe and Recharge, facilitating international efforts to meet binding carbon reduction targets.
Infracapital’s greenfield strategies continue to capitalise on the current imbalance of supply versus demand in the European essential infrastructure market where there remains significant under-investment and, now more than ever, increased need to build back better and greener.
The Infracapital greenfield funds, led by a dedicated Greenfield team, are delivering a solution for both investors and consumers alike, through investing in later stage development, construction and expansion phases of European Infrastructure projects from alternative energy generation to full fibre roll out. Greenfield projects can help solve the allocation challenges facing pension schemes, while simultaneously plugging the funding gap faced by governments, who alone cannot sustainably and inclusively meet the changing needs of modern society.
Looking at Infracapital’s activity in the brownfield fund space, Infracapital’s strategies target complex assets in the mid-market, where a strong asset management team can better unlock value. The 2020 sale of Adven, leading provider of clean energy solutions to industrial clients in the Nordics, reflects Infracapital’s responsible investment approach and a fantastic example of being able to achieve both attractive returns for investors whilst delivering against the sustainable development goals.
Furthermore, in a bid to make a further positive contribution to the societies in which the industry operates, Infracapital founded the Infrastructure Industry Foundation in 2019, to unite the infrastructure sector in donating to worthy charitable causes close to the industry. The inaugural event raised c.£250k ,which will fund life-saving research into Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, a rare and vicious form of cancer. Infracapital’s diversified and innovative market approach, committed to investing responsibly, coupled with its expertise in the industry make it a worthy winner.
