Australia’s Biggest Pension Fund Eyes US Infrastructure
President Donald Trump’s plan to fix America’s crumbling infrastructure with $1 trillion of private and public investment over a decade is drawing interest from 10,000 miles away.
AustralianSuper Pty, Australia’s biggest pension fund with over A$100 billion ($75 billion) in assets, is eyeing the US market for infrastructure debt and equity investment prospects, said Mark Delaney, its Melbourne-based chief investment officer.
“Anyone who has traveled to the US would say there are aspects of the infrastructure that could do with updating,” he said in an interview. While the fund is somewhat cautious on valuations, “if there are additional infrastructure opportunities available, we will certainly look at them,” he said.
The US faces a $1.4 trillion infrastructure funding shortfall in the period from 2016 to 2025, according to estimates by The American Society of Civil Engineers. Without improvement, the US will lose $3.9 trillion in economic output by 2025, ASCE data show. There are signs that, at least globally, infrastructure is becoming more appealing after investors thirsting for stable income pumped a record $413 billion into the asset class last year, according to data provider Preqin.
Full Content: Bloomberg
