Most institutional investors responsible for managing beneficiary assets are a cautious lot by their very nature. That is neither criticism nor an exercise in pop psychology, and of course this is a generalization — there are outliers with more aggressive investment mandates. The reality, however, is that many of these investors are charged with safeguarding their constituents’ retirements or sustaining the operations of a nonprofit.

Toll roads can be some of the most mature, transparent and easy to understand assets in the infrastructure class. Charging drivers to use time-saving, well-located expressways in areas with strong underlying fundamentals makes good sense, and there is now considerable international acceptance of tolling by road users. For investors they represent a nice portfolio balancer offering solid annual yields with strong prospects of outperformance.

Capital markets continued to move ahead as the second quarter commenced, building on the rally that took hold in February and March. However, uncertainty regarding U.S. economic indicators and global events clouded investor sentiment in May and June.