The GLIO Index of infrastructure companies advanced for the second consecutive month (3.5 percent) in April. Year-to-date (April 30) the GLIO Index is 7.5 percent.

Electric (3.5 percent) and water utilities (4.9 percent), energy transportation (5.5 percent), toll-roads (7.2 percent) and telecom infrastructure (7.8 percent) all posted good numbers in April. Railroads also pushed forward (0.9 percent) in a month when Canadian National (CN) offered $33.7 billion for Kansas City Southern.

On the other side of the ledger, passenger rail (–2.6 percent) and renewables (–3.8 percent) continued their recent slide.

Global equities ended April up 4.7 percent

The 15-year annualized USD return for the GLIO Index is 9.5 percent, well ahead of global equities (7.9 percent) and achieving this with 380 basis points lower volatility. Full performance numbers are in the table below.

The chart on page 45 displays 10-year rolling investment horizons for priva