It is a new year, and it is tradition that researchers and economists publish their expectations for the coming 12 months. Here are excerpts from four such reports that cover real assets and infrastructure investing as well as the top risks facing investors in 2020.

According to a pair of surveys by Natixis and BDO, global investors and managers are anticipating declining market values in the near future; the only question is when a downturn might occur. In October and November 2019, Natixis surveyed 500 institutional investors globally about their expectations for investment markets — 145 corporate pension plans, 102 endowments/foundations, 103 public pension plans, 127 insurance companies and 23 sovereign wealth funds. BDO surveyed 200 fund managers at private equity and venture capital firms in the United States in October 2019.

Drew Campbell, i3 senior editor, spoke with Michael Likosky, a partner at Advantage Infrastructure Advisors, about the trend of technology companies entering the infrastructure investing market. This is the second part of a two-part series that first published with the February issue.

Below are recent notes, trends and key performers in global listed infrastructure. Total return performance during the past 12 months (February to February) is in parentheses. The Global Listed Infrastructure Organisation (GLIO) Index of “pure” infrastructure companies added 23 percent compared against 18.9 percent for global equities over the past 12 months. Telecom infrastructure (45 percent), water utilities (31 percent), electric utilities (31 percent) and renewables (51 percent) drove the index forward during the same period.

According to IREI’s FundTracker database, infrastructure fundraising in fourth quarter 2019 far outpaced previous quarters during the year, with eight funds raising more than $41 billion. Fourth quarter 2019 fundraising far outpaced third quarter ($8.2 billion) and the mega-fund trend continued during December with Global Infrastructure Partners closing its $22 billion Global Infrastructure Partners IV fund.

Midstream energy investments, whether public securities or private markets allocations, have long been sought after by infrastructure investors, but the sector has changed in recent years. Once a reliable go-to investment for stable cashflows and growth, the sector hit a rough patch starting in 2014, when global oil prices tanked. With balance sheet and financing challenges between 2014 and 2018 and ongoing volatility in 2019, can midstream energy again become a sweet spot for investors?

Sitting in a legal seminar here in Hong Kong, I was surprised to hear the guest speakers from China’s Department of Agriculture promote a fish-farming operation in the Philippines as part of the country’s much-touted One Belt One Road Initiative. They then added a rice-paddy project as part of the grand plan, as well.