According to IREI’s FundTracker database, infrastructure investment managers closed five funds in first quarter 2019, raising nearly $19.4 billion. In first quarter 2018, five funds also held final closings, raising $10.6 billion, and in fourth quarter 2018, three funds had final closings, totaling $5.69 billion.

Infrastructure investing is reaching an important juncture. Institutional investors allocate more and more capital to infrastructure but find it harder and harder to deploy. At the same time, most governments seek to promote stronger private sector participation but struggle to grow the pipeline of investable infrastructure assets.

The following report reviews highlights of some of the events and trends affecting global listed infrastructure companies in recent months. The Global Listed Infrastructure Organisation’s (GLIO) coverage of core infrastructure companies displays a rolling one-year performance (March to March) of 12.1 percent, with the telecom infrastructure (27.2 percent) and energy transportation (20.3 percent) sectors leading the way. Long-term U.S.-dollar annualized total return (15 years) for global listed infrastructure is 10.8 percent versus 7.5 percent for global equities. Listed infrastructure achieves this with approximately 300 basis points lower volatility compared against equities.

Marshall Macomber is president of ThinkP3, a consultancy that helps elected leaders, the media and taxpayers better understand P3s and how they work. Prior to ThinkP3, Macomber served in government for more than 12 years in Washington, D.C., working in the U.S. House of Representatives as a top aide to Congressperson Mike Rogers of Alabama, the founder of the Congressional P3 caucus. I3 senior editor Drew Campbell spoke with Macomber about the P3 market in the United States and, in particular, the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly established Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program that helps state and municipal water departments with public and private investment.

Infrastructure is a numbers game. When considering investment in the asset class, institutional investors will want to know such things as the lifespan of an asset, building and maintenance costs, long-term leases and, of course, revenue. But some new numbers are making certain realities come to light that investors should take note of — namely how technology will be needed, or incorporated into, and used to build and maintain the infrastructure of the future global economy.