Infrastructure as an asset class offers investment opportunities derived from the provision of essential services to society. These are typically characterized by asset-heavy, high-valued and hard-to-replace assets.
The 'middle-market effect' is a premium of returns above smaller- and larger-sized investments that is persistent and accessible with select investment strategies and managers. Part of the reason for this is supply and demand, preferences of large investors, combined with growth opportunity that provides higher returns than the smallest- and largest-scale investments.
We provide some detail on the outlook and opportunities across the real estate, private equity/venture capital, private credit, infrastructure and agriculture asset classes.
The first half of the year saw some dislocations in pricing which began to close with some vendors and buyers of private market assets bridging expectations and becoming more willing to complete deal transactions. As a consequence, transaction activity has picked up amongst private market buyers while public market activity shows tentative signs of recovery from a recent pickup in non-mining initial public offerings.
Private Equity is the term used for investing in companies that are not publicly listed. Private Equity fund managers raise capital to buy into private companies, which they then manage and overhaul to earn a profit once the business is sold again years later.