Institutional Real Estate, Inc. held its eighth annual Institutional Investing in Infrastructure conference and fifth annual I3 Editorial Advisory Board meeting in Half Moon Bay, Calif., in October. And as luck would have it, the Golden State’s normally reliable coastal cloud cover was absent. It was fitting for an asset class with many new investors trying to make sense of its multitude of subsectors, risk profiles, geographies, political and regulatory environments, and investment structures; this year, it seemed for many, the fog had lifted.

The eighth annual Institutional Investing in Infrastructure conference took place in October in Half Moon Bay, Calif. This was quite a shift in venue — previously, the conferences had been held in the more “infrastructure-type” cities of Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C. But with the change in atmosphere outside the conference room came a shift in atmosphere inside the conference room as well. Discussions were more animated; the audience was more engaged; discussions delved deeper; everyone just seemed more focused. It felt like we’ve reached the tipping point — infrastructure is here to stay, even if there are still lots of questions to be answered.

North America’s oil and gas market is experiencing something it has not seen for decades — a glut, and infrastructure is needed to help relieve the pressure. That is both good news and bad news for infrastructure investors. The good news is their capital is in high demand.