Fund managers offer mixed forecasts for infrastructure investment growth

Three out of five fund managers operating in a range of asset classes have predicted that fund raising in infrastructure will grow over the next 18 months with almost a quarter of this polled predicting “dramatic” increases.

However more than three quarters of the survey of 100 Alternative Fund Managers – who deal with investments outside conventional investments such as bonds and stocks – said they saw infrastructure investment either growing only slightly or remaining the same.

The survey by provider of alternative fund services, Ocorian, found that 69% of those surveyed predicted investment levels to be higher over the next 18 months compared to the previous 18-month period across a range of asset classes including real estate, private equity and infrastructure (see table - source Ocorian).

Ocorian found that the top five asset classes in which the respondents expected to see the most fundraising

over the next 18 months were:

• private equity (73%),

• infrastructure, (68%),

• real estate (65%),

• private debt (59%) and

• hedge funds (49%).

Around two out of five of those surveyed thought there will be over 25% more capital raised this year compared to last year, while 39% foresaw tan increase of 10-25% more with 17% forecasting an increase of up to10%.