Investor interest in the listed infrastructure remains strong despite experienced equity-like volatility in 2008, exacerbated by high levels of gearing, according to a Standard & Poor’s sector review.
S&P Fund Services analyst Simone Arblaster said institutional pension plans in particular have “long been attracted to the long-duration inflation-linked and relatively stable investment characteristic of this sector”.
Arblaster said an “interesting observation” from the review was just how critical the choice of benchmark is in the listed infrastructure sector.
“Unlike most other asset classes, the market is still coming to terms with how listed infrastructure managers should be measured and benchmarked.”
The review, including five international managers and one domestic manager, assigned two new ratings and noted three withdrawals.
Goldman Sachs JBWere Australian Infrastructure Wholesale fund was the biggest mover in the review, up from three stars to four stars, while UBS Global Infrastructure Securities Fund was closed.
