Publications

- September 1, 2014: Vol. 7, Number 8

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Pushing the limits: Infrastructure investing can be many things to many people, and investors want to decide what that is for themselves

by Sheila Hopkins

In June, I provided the audience at IREI’s Institutional Investing in Infrastructure conference with a quick view of the world as we (meaning I) see it. The takeaway was that the infrastructure world is messy, really messy — especially when compared to the traditional securities and fixed-income asset classes — but it looks messy in comparison with other real assets sectors as well.

Pretty much anyone with access to a computer can find appropriate and profitable equity and bond investments. Press a few buttons and bing, bang, boom — you’ve bought or sold a security or bond.

Real estate is more complicated than securities and fixed income, but, at its heart, real estate is simply a bunch of bricks and a tenant. An office building in London is pretty much the same as an office building in New York City, which is pretty much the same as an office building in Tokyo — give or take an earthquake or two.

Infrastructure isn’t there yet.

While the ty

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