IREI hosted its first in-person VIP Infrastructure conference since 2019 in Austin, Texas, June 7–9. Attendees traveled from North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. Discussions at VIP Infrastructure focused on the energy transition, opportunities for double-digit returns, digital infrastructure, investment platforms and strategies, capital-flows trends, and shifting supply chains.
VIP Infrastructure opened with a panel on the state of global infrastructure investing and the challenges and opportunities in the market. Those include the effect inflation is having on infrastructure businesses and investments. The energy market, in particular, is an area institutional investors are focused on as it relates to inflation; mandates to meet climate goals, while carrying out the fiduciary duty to provide returns for clients, are creating difficult choices. Rising energy costs are putting natural gas as an investment choice on the table for some investors who previously may h