2023 feels like the clean-up after a one-for-the-ages blow-out party. There might be two or three diehard attendees watching the sunrise, sipping mimosas and dissecting the failings of the local sports team, and there might be someone asleep on the couch, but everyone else has gone home to recover. And no wonder. Everyone will be talking about that party — i.e., the record-setting 2022 infrastructure fundraising totals — for years to come.

It’s no secret that investors have come out in force during the past two years, committing around $260 billion to private equity infrastructure funds, according to IREI’s infrastructure database. That largesse has come to a screeching stop in 2023, however, with only $4.3 billion committed to funds reaching a final closing in the first quarter.

So, what happened? Did they run out of money? Did they run out of opportunities? No, there is still capital available to commit, though the denominator effect caused by the general equ