Infrastructure Investor (II): From your vantage point as
a fund administrator specialising in alternatives, what impact has
COVID-19 had on the attractiveness of infrastructure
assets?
Simon Burgess (SB): A number of solid
alternative investment strategies have been rocked by the pandemic
and the uncertainty around how long it will last, particularly
those investing in retail and leisure businesses and associated
real estate investments. Many mainstream private equity and private
equity real estate strategies have been dented to some degree.
For infrastructure GPs and LPs, however, COVID-19 has
presented an interesting opportunity. One significant trend
supporting investment into the asset class is that economies
globally are experiencing ultra-low interest rates. Governments
have been purchasing bonds and creating a lot of cheap money, and
the expectation is that the cost of borrowing will remain low for
the foreseeable future. That's interesting for
