“Boy, is it tough out there …” This was the response I received from a good friend who was trying to raise capital for an investment with one of the globe’s leading real estate developers. He had been doing the traditional capital-raising journey from Singapore to Abu Dhabi, then to Amsterdam and finally London. But, unlike in previous years, this trip was with little success. For many investors, the past six months has been a period of “firefighting.” The various sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), pension funds and investment management groups are being forced to handle a vast array of issues.

Hans-Martin Aerts is the head of Infrastructure Asia with APG Asset Management, which was founded in March 2008. The firm specializes in managing pension capital, offering asset management services to the pension funds of the government, education and construction sectors, and housing corporations in the Netherlands. Aerts is based in APG’s Hong Kong office, and he is responsible for managing infrastructure investments in Asia. Institutional Investing in Infrastructure editor Drew Campbell recently spoke with Aerts about Asian infrastructure markets.

Several months ago the situation was crystal clear — there was no decoupling, and, as soon as the United States sneezed, the rest of the world, including fast-growing Asian countries, caught the flu. The markets moved in lockstep, and there was no escape for investors. The proponents of this novel theory had to admit defeat, and there was no more talk in the press about decoupling. As the U.S. consumer retreated, Asian economies heavily dependent on exports were not expected to survive. Now that the dust has almost settled, the situation with regard to decoupling is not as clear as it once was, and there are some signs that this theory may be revived again