As an established blueprint for public-private partnerships migrates to the United States and elsewhere, opportunities to participate in social infrastructure investing are on the rise. Although this should open the door to investments with characteristics that hold great appeal to many long-term investors, there is no denying that these are still development projects that require careful handling to mitigate risks.

Is infrastructure a subcategory of real estate, real assets, or a separate asset class unto itself? That was the question raised in the cover article of the Summer 2008 issue of Institutional Investing in Infrastructure.

Many institutional investors are considering an investment in infrastructure or have already taken the plunge, and as they become more sophisticated about investing in this asset class, one of the questions they consider is: what is an appropriate fund structure? To answer this question, investors look at the relationship between the manager incentives of the investment vehicle, the level of risk and return sought by the investor, and the alignment of interest between the fund and the investor.