While certain infrastructure subsectors were severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, UBS-Asset Management’s new Infrastructure Outlook report for 2021 shows the investable universe growing in 2021 and beyond.
The report notes that while sectors such as airports and toll roads saw negative impacts this year, as a whole, the infrastructure asset class has weathered the pandemic fairly well. Infrastructure companies saw fewer downgrades and defaults than other alternative asset classes, and valuations in the first quarter of 2020 remained resilient.
In fact, COVID-19 has even accelerated emerging technologies such as digital infrastructure as well as secular trends around decarbonization. The crisis has also highlighted inequalities in broadband connection, heightening the urban-rural divide. At the same time, COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on deficiencies, revealing that government spending has not kept pace with the demands of an increasingly aging populatio
