At the start of 2020, nobody could have predicted the social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. First detected in China, at the time of this writing, the virus has infected people in 185 countries. Businesses, shops, services and financial markets across the world have temporarily closed, with much of the population remaining indoors as efforts are made to combat the spread of the disease.
The FTSE and Dow Jones have seen huge falls, with their biggest quarterly drops in the first three months of this year since 1987, and unemployment in the United States has hit record highs. Oil prices have fallen, with demand reduced as a result of travel restrictions, and the IMF predicts that the global economy will shrink by 3 percent this year as the threat of recession looms.
But how is the picture looking for infrastructure investment? Traditionally, this is touted as a defensive asset class — with everything from utilities to freight constantly in demand — t