Although a number of pension funds have made allocations to infrastructure through dedicated programs or through real estate mandates, many others have not. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has been a leader, making infrastructure commitments through a new inflation-linked assets program. The question remains, however, whether more plans will follow and if so, how long might it be before plan sponsor capital targeting the asset class reaches critical mass.

As plan sponsors look to diversify their portfolios and invest in assets that provide steady returns, infrastructure, with its stable inflation-sensitive income streams, should prove to be an attractive option; a growing number of pension funds of all sizes agree, and they are considering the best way for their plan to get a piece of the infrastructure pie.

In December 2007, for example, the California Public Employees’ Retirem