2021 Real Assets Market Overview Catching the Wave

Private infrastructure continues to meaningfully outperform public market equivalents while demonstrating lower overall return dispersion and strong risk-adjusted returns.

Energy and passenger transportation assets faced headwinds in 2020, while data/telecom, renewable power and freight/logistics showed strong performance and attracted significant private capital.

While fundraising has been strongest at the larger end of the market, small to mid-market deals continue to make up the lion's share of transaction activity.

Both infrastructure contributions and distributions slowed meaningfully in 2020, with market activity heavily concentrated in certain sectors, namely data/telecommunications and renewable energy.

Infrastructure fundraising slowed in 2020 and remains increasingly concentrated in a fewer number of large and mid-cap general partners.

There has been no shortage of headlines about infrastructure lately – and yet, this can be a difficult sector for investors to navigate. We’re kicking off a series that will spotlight current key trends in infrastructure investing – starting with a (somewhat personal) piece from Brent Burnett, Co-Head of Real Assets.