March 2012 Issue

Assured Guaranty’s recent UK hospital deal signalled the monoline’s return to the infrastructure market. European head Dominic Nathan sat down with Bruno Alves to talk about the firm’s plans and why he sees his firm as providing one of the top five alternative debt solutions going forward.

Progress is steady rather than spectacular, but the Central Asian and South Caucasus region is starting to open up to infrastructure developers and investors. Stephen Wermert of the Asian Development Bank explains some of the opportunities and pitfalls.

Gershon Cohen and Sameer Amin – the co-heads of Lloyds’ infrastructure funds management unit –tell Bruno Alves how the bank’s debut European greenfield infrastructure fund is the first step in building a fully-fledged fund management platform.

In October last year, HSBC spinout InfraRed Capital Partners closed the world’s largest greenfield infrastructure fund on $1.2bn. The firm’s chief executive Werner von Guionneau tells Andy Thomson that investors are comfortable with the risk because of the solid platform on which the firm is built.

UK pension appetite for infrastructure as an asset class is steadily increasing. That’s great news for fund managers, but not necessarily good news for George Osborne’s ‘Pension Finance Initiative’.

Globalvia has started 2012 in crisis management mode, with two of its Spanish concessions threatening to end in disarray.

The UK’s National Audit Office believes drawn-out procurement processes and minimum investor rates of return are not synchronised with projects’ risk profiles and may have inflated PFI equity returns over the years.

The large allocation by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System to Industry Funds Management underlines the significance large pension funds are attaching to infrastructure as a portfolio diversifier.

Why a new Senate Bill may lure much-needed private sector investment to Texas’ aging infrastructure.

A tussle has broken out between a UK local council and a private operator over proposed expansion plans for London Luton airport. It may be seen as another example of how fiscal strain on the public sector can impact on the private sector.

Feathered friends are the latest enemy undermining the London Mayor’s infrastructure plans.

The son of the US Transport Secretary was arrested in Egypt as part of measures against alleged anti-establishment activities.

With Pennsylvania steeped in fiscal morass, an internet lobby group is pressing a methodical governor to get cracking on public-private partnership legislation.

Secondary platforms are helping smaller investors to engage with this burgeoning market. However, some GPs are concerned about the potential risks. By Sam Sutton

Make no mistake: interest in infrastructure secondaries is alive and kicking. Chris Glynn finds out from placement agent Campbell Lutyens why it’s deserving of more fanfare.

While small in comparison with its private equity equivalent, the infrastructure secondaries market is starting to grow on the back of various dynamics that support secondary activity. Andy Thomson finds out why market participants are optimistic