Kalliope Gourntis
Following a growth spurt in 2016-17, there are signs the market might be overheating. But demand is expected to remain strong as countries address the challenges.
Swiss Life Asset Managers’ Frank Heiss will be based in Frankfurt and will be responsible for deal origination in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Nordics.
The objective is to build eNordic into a €3bn holding with a generation capacity of 1.6GW over the next five years.
The former Allianz Capital Partners CEO’s prediction of growing public opposition to private ownership of infrastructure was spot on, though he might have been surprised at the extent to which he’d be proved right.
The fund manager believes there is ‘immeasurable opportunity in the infratech ecosystem’ which it aims to capitalise on by investing in tech companies at the scale-up stage.
The consortium is on track to recoup its $1.15bn investment by 2021 – just 12 years after being awarded a 75-year lease to operate the city’s on-street meters. But it still can’t shake the stigma of a bad PPP.
The move comes less than two weeks after the French fund manager announced its switch to a Benefit Corporation.
Lawrence Slade will assume his new role in January, succeeding Andy Rose who has led the global infrastructure trade body since April 2016.
Founder and CEO Thierry Déau says the manager has been focusing on social and environmental responsibility since inception, with ‘no contradiction between impact and good returns’.
Like its predecessor, UBS-CEIS, the new fund is a joint initiative between UBS, Swiss asset manager Fontavis and insurer Swiss Mobiliar.