In the past year, valuations of listed shares have been breaking records across most sectors, and it’s feeling like some other bull markets that go nowhere but up, until they don’t. All that seemingly ended with a severe decline in early February and now the market’s trajectory is anyone’s guess.

Institutional investors allocated to listed infrastructure are prepared for the ups and downs of the public markets, and are typically committed for the long term rather than trying to time the market. But despite the long-term outlook institutional investors often have, there are shorter term tactics that can be deployed in a market that has moved up for so long and might be getting wobbly.

Australia-based RARE Infrastructure, for example, advised its investors in a recent market commentary that at a portfolio management level, it will not be pursuing growth stocks at this point in the cycle. RARE remains fully invested, but in 2017 it added to its defensive position