•  
• Tweet
•  
•        Print
•  
•         Track Keywords
•  
• 

Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

The infrastructure fundraising market reached new heights in 2019 as a total of $98bn was raised from investors as 88 funds closed.

According to Preqin, it included a $22bn fund raised by Global Infrastructure Partners - the largest infrastructure fund ever closed. As a result, the average size of funds closed in 2019 has increased to over $1bn, twice the level is seen as recently as 2015.

"2019 has been an incredible year for infrastructure. Fund managers have been able to secure a record amount of capital and have been putting that capital to work, and we have crossed new thresholds in the average size of both funds and deals. Investor appetite for the asset class is still strong, so there is every indication that this surge of activity will continue into 2020," said Patrick Adefuye, Head of Real Assets at Preqin.

Patrick added: "But success brings its challenges, and we are already seeing high dry powder and strong competition push up asset prices and depress projected returns. Will infrastructure succumb to the same pressures we are seeing in other asset classes or will fund managers be able to innovate and preserve the high returns they've seen in previous years?"

Record fundraising has also pushed dry powder to new highs - fund managers now hold $212bn waiting to be deployed, twice as much as at the end of 2015.

Looking ahead, at the beginning of January there are a record 253 funds in market targeting $203bn, s......................

To view our full article Click here