The VIP Infrastructure conference took place in Austin on June 6–8 with 158 investors, managers and consultants in attendance — the the annual event’s most participants ever.

The high level of engagement and insights from panelists and audience members brought color to every discussion, during which a number of infrastructure trends and top-of-mind topics emerged. The investor fireside chat mixer on June 6 kicked off with a discussion on how the past year of general market performance has affected infrastructure portfolios. According to IREI data, the capital raised in infrastructure funds in 2023 is down 95 percent compared with the same time last year. One speaker called it the worst fundraising environment for infrastructure since 2009–2010, and others agreed that 2023 will be a challenging year. Nonetheless, only a few attendees indicated they are positioning for a recession within the next six months to a year.

The denominator effect