Infrastructure investing has surged in popularity as investors seek stable cash flows, inflation protection and long-duration assets. But as capital flows into the sector, a familiar problem has emerged: performance numbers that look comparable on the surface but are built on inconsistent foundations.
Like real estate, infrastructure is an illiquid, appraisal-based asset class. Assets are unique; cash flows are irregular; and valuations depend heavily on assumptions about discount rates, regulatory environments and long-term demand. This makes performance measurement inherently complex — and often misleading.
The metrics are useful but not uniform. Infrastructure investors rely on many of the same metrics used in real estate:
IRR
Time-weighted returns
Equity multiples
Cash-yield metrics
Discounted cash flow valuations
Each metric has value. But none of them are comparable unless the underlying data is sta
