What is the GRESB Foundation, and what is its purpose? Rick Walters: The GRESB Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organization (incorporated as a Dutch stichting) that sets global standards for assessing the environmental, social and governance performance of real estate, infrastructure and other assets.

People keep asking me when I plan to retire. And some people evidently have been telling other people in our industry that I’m already all but retired, which was what prompted my move to Florida.

When Deutsche Telekom went looking for buyers for its telecom towers business, it naturally started with a list of telecom companies. But in the end, it was Canadian alternative-investment heavyweight Brookfield Asset Management and U.S. private-equity house DigitalBridge that came in with a last-minute bid in July to buy 51 percent of the towers business.

The GLIO Index of infrastructure companies added 3.5 percent in October, but year–to–date is down –11.3 percent. Global equities also increased in September (7.2 percent), and year-to-date are down –19.7 percent.

The new wave of geopolitical uncertainty, prompted by the conflict in Ukraine, has given a new sense of urgency to the energy transition. Decarbonization, long prioritized as a means of addressing climate change, has now become a key focus for countries looking to achieve energy security.

With varying degrees of resolve, central banks in major economies are tightening monetary policy in response to record high inflation. According to Infrastructure Investor’s LP Perspectives 2022 Study, 27 percent of investors in infrastructure point to an increase in interest rates as their primary concern for investment performance.

GRESB, the global ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure investments, has released the results of its 2022 assessments.