Publications

- June 1, 2013: Vol. 6 Number 6

To read this full article you need to be subscribed to Institutional Investing in Infrastructure

Debt strategies: A primer on infrastructure debt

by Nick Cleary

 

 

Infrastructure debt has gained attention as a private debt strategy. It merits this attention because an infrastructure debt strategy can be readily deployed and achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns in a market where value is difficult to find.

Low interest rates combined with strong demand for cash-yielding investments means value remains scarce. Infrastructure debt’s characteristics of high credit quality and a premium for illiquidity make it attractive, particularly to investors in established fixed-income investment-grade credit.

The 4 percent to 6 percent annual returns — once readily achievable from established sovereign, financial and corporate bond issuers — are no longer available. Today the returns from these established investments have in many cases halved to yield as little as 1 percent to 3 percent annually. Making matters more challenging, monetary policy continues to promote higher inflation relative to interest rat

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click Here.

Forgot your username or password?