- Investors move more capital to fast-growing area of alts
- Nuveen also highlights decarbonisation in strategy shift
- Infrastructure assets to double in next five years: Preqin
BlackRock has raised $4.5bn for the first close of its new global infrastructure fund, another sign of high investor interest in this segment of private markets.
The fund is the fourth vintage of the New York money manager’s infrastructure equity range, investing globally in assets essential for energy, industry, transport and other sectors.
BlackRock said it aimed to capitalise on long-term, structural trends being accelerated by the global energy transition: decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation.
“Over the coming decades, the energy transition will impact every part of the global economy, presenting significant investment opportunities for infrastructure investors.”
BlackRock manages over $50bn in infrastructure assets and ended Q3 with $313bn in alternatives. Infra IV is targeting $7.5bn and will have further raises.
It succeeds Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund III, which held a final close of $5.1bn in 2020 and fully deployed capital into companies including Vanguard Renewables, a US-based producer of renewable natural gas to Calisen, an owner and installer of smart metres in the UK.
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Infrastructure grew from $289.7bn in 2015 to $887.5bn last year, at a Compound Quarterly Growth Rate of 20.5%, according to Preqin research.
The data provider now forecasts assets in the space will more than double over the next five years to almost $1.9bn in 2027.
The BlackRock news comes as US asset manager Nuveen, which oversees $1.1trn, announces a shift in its global infrastructure fund towards decarbonisation.
Its Global Clean Infrastructure Impact fund will be classified Article 9 under the SFDR.
Nuveen said it was “working with our clients to identify innovative ways to invest in technologies, infrastructure and other assets that will be necessary to facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy.”
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