• What is the predicted deal flow for this market? Which regions are seeing growth?
• Are more direct investments being made on behalf of pension funds on the local level?
• Relating the impact of greater institutional involvement with the public sector
  Will more funds be seen or are managers heading offshore?
  

• Exploring current market dynamics, trends over the past twelve months and expectations for the future
• Is the threat of an ‘infrastructure bubble’ a real one?
• Discussing expected deal flow – twelve months and beyond
• How are governments responding to greater private sector involvement?
  

• Addressing the impact of recent press on market development
• How would investors like to see management fee structures evolve?
• How would investors like to see vehicles evolve – longer life funds, evergreen funds?
• What mistakes have been made? How have we learned from them?
• Where are investors going next – greater direct investing in the sector?
  

• Discussing the strategy behind an infrastructure allocation
• The motivation – why infrastructure? What’s the impact on the rest of the portfolio?
• Which asset classes might take a backseat to infrastructure?
• Justifying an increase – do greater allocations need to be made?
• The next ‘big’ thing – do increases mean greater potential for direct investments?
  

• What impact does increased levels of debt have on investor confidence?
• Are investors still seeing reports of high asset prices as a barrier to entry?
• Citing cases where returns have and have not justified the high cost to invest, management fees
• If prices increase, will this affect existing allocations? How much would raises affect future allocations?
• How managers and consultants can help educate investors to deal flow potential and market growth
  

• Relating the difference between asset and fund management
• How to go about selecting strategic partners
• How do you drive value? What is the time horizon?

• Discussing which skills sets are most valuable to the end investor
• Ascertaining the ways in which the manager’s background can affect the fund’s deal flow
• Why and when relevant operational experience can prove crucial
• How experience in negotiating tight concession agreements proves beneficial
• Why debt financing may need to be a part of the manager’s skill mix
• Assessing the manager’s ability to perform high level risk analysis

• Examining the affect a listed fund has on an institutional investor
• Why infrastructure supports higher levels of gearing than traditional private equity
• Investing in index funds – who are the likely investors? Can pension funds benefit?
• Why are high premiums paid over previous share prices justified and should investors be concerned?
• Can trading at a discounted value allow for faster allocation?
• When unlisted funds better suit the investors need for long-term investing
• Discussing the need for a reliable benchmark – will one soon emerge?

• Asset expertise - internal versus consultants
• Understanding the stakeholders
• Getting the assumptions right

You’ve heard how the infrastructure market has evolved: now it’s time to meet the existing and future players in this market. Be on first name terms with the senior executives responsible for Europe’s largest infrastructure allocations and exchange business cards with everyone you need to know. We’ve taken the headache out of networking – no more squinting at name badges!

• What are the risks associated with greenfield and brownfield assets?
• Do greenfield projects offer the same level of predictability of cash flows?
• Could greater competition for brownfield investments steer investors towards greenfield projects?
• What affect could higher levels of risk commonly associated with greenfield projects have on the investor?
  

• Exploring the various ways a manager may choose to exit
• How investors can predict their cash flows after 10, 15, 30  years
• When a closed fund becomes a listed fund – what happens to investors’ returns?
• Securitising assets – how does this affect the investor?
• How an investor can sell a percentage of their cash flow rights
• Transferring rights on a tax-free basis – how does this work?
• Is a secondary market likely to develop in funds and/or portfolios of assets?
  

• Understanding which sectors are at greater risk
• Monopolistic utilities and the matter of allowable returns – what can you expect?
• How a push for greater competition in some sectors can impact your investment
• How regulator demands for greater capital spending may impact your bottom line
  

• Is England still providing the same level of investment opportunities it was two years ago?
• Scotland’s privatisation push - the public-private partnership scheme and how far its come
• Discussing which investors are investing inward and why
• Are Irish investors finally moving into this market?
• What is the current level of deal flow in Ireland?
  

• Is a strong regional presence needed in order to gain access to new deals?
• Which markets prove difficult for global players without the necessary local presence?
• How an international approach can prove beneficial to an investor looking to diversify
• How a solid global reputation can instill confidence among key stakeholders
• Are global managers able to provide ongoing management post acquisition
  

• Exploring the practicalities for investments in US infrastructure and other considerations for offshore investors
• Getting non-US money into US infrastructure projects
• Investment options for the offshore investor – what tax and legal considerations need to be made?
• American PPPs – how and where are they evolving? Which regions are expected to see the greatest level of investment options?
• Raising money from US investors for infrastructure projects - considerations for union, corporate and other ERISA-governed plans
  

• Which markets are currently offering opportunities appropriately matched to the risk/return profile of today’s leading pension funds?
• Identifying regions where success has already been seen in Latin America, India and China
• Citing key considerations investors must make before entering an emerging market – regulatory, legislative
• Will growth in infrastructure funds in the emerging markets space bolster investor confidence?
• Understanding when an infrastructure investment becomes a specialist form of private equity
  

• Understanding investors’ key motivators – why water, why now?
• Relating the impact of privatisation on the organisation
• Are water utilities overpriced? Do they carry too much risk?
• What implications could regulatory demands place on the investment?
  

• What makes ports such an attractive investment option?
• Demonstrating the potential return on investment into ports through two brief examples
• What specialist knowledge and capability is required for port investments?
• Where can you invest in port related and dependent investments?
  

• Addressing the potential for investments in traditional and alternative power and energy markets
• Discussing acquisition opportunities in traditional power assets, transmission, pipelines and storage
• Exploring the prospect for investments in alternative assets, including ethanol, wind, biomass
  

• How bonds offer an alternate route to infrastructure exposure
• Examining the structure of the recent Network Rail bond issue
  

• How far can the definition be stretched? Does it matter if we stretch the definition?
• What characteristics are going to continue to define the asset class for institutional investors?
• How innovative approaches to alternative infrastructure investments are widening the pipeline
  

• Defining core capital assets, including "mobile infrastructure", industrial infrastructure
• Why is this a good investment area and how different is it to traditional infrastructure investing?
• Return expectations of core capital assets compared to traditional infrastructure funds?

This materclass will discuss how infrastructure performs as an asset class. You will learn how infrastructure fares against other asset classes, including how to differentiate between what is and is not an infrastructure asset, and gain a clear understanding of how an infrastructure allocation can work for you. This session also includes an introduction to public-private partnerships (PPPs), exploring ways in which investments can be made directly into this growing asset class.

This is a must-attend for pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices or any other investor evaluating the prospect for an infrastructure allocation for the first time.

• Defining characteristics - what to look for; what is and is not 'infrastructure'
• Infrastructure as an investment - what to expect
• A little history and state of the market - is now the right time to be investing in this sector?
• How to access investment opportunities and maximize value

• Discussing similarities in nature to fixed income and real estate investing
• Illustrating ways to access infrastructure assets through private equity
• How infrastructure has helped to mitigate the effects of under-performing bonds

• The missing link - how infrastructure provides unique inflation-linked returns
• Identifying the benefits of diversification for institutional investors
• Quantifying the risk from investing through other asset classes
• Justifying a spread across varying asset classes to achieve optimal risk levels

• Identifying the benefits of dedicated allocation specialists
• How indirect investments answer potential problems from direct investment
• Pooling investments to allow for a greater spread across the asset class
• Citing cases where institutional investors have accessed assets directly through consortia

• Explaining the fundamental differences between primary and secondary markets
• Matching investment requirements – varying liquidity, matching cash flow requirements
• Understanding  the associated risk and rating implications

• Defining how long-dated yields can serve a pension fund’s needs
• Explaining  how PFI equity can act as a stand-alone investment for allocation to alternative assets
• Considering  the various types of risk – demand, design, construction
• Matching your risk appetite to a likely investment
• Overview of taxation for UK primary and secondary market infrastructure fund investment
• Collective investment options available for investors - investment clubs, specific asset-acquisition consortiums and funds

SJ Berwin LLP proudly presents our most popular masterclass session - back by popular demand!

“Most useful session I’ve attended. Worth every penny paid for my Gold Pass!”

Joseph Lufkin, Consultant, Asian Development Bank

This masterclass offers you the most comprehensive and enlightening guide to the legal, tax and regulatory issues relating to structuring infrastructure funds and co-investment transactions. The session will explore effective ways to structure infrastructure funds in order to optimise tax treatment, provide insight into the terms and conditions for infrastructure funds and related co-investment arrangements, and examine the effect of these structures on infrastructure transactions.

This is an ideal introduction for investment providers – a must-attend for investment banks, fund managers, private equity firms, real estate investors and hedge funds evaluating the prospect for new business through infrastructure investments.

• Relating the implications of terms and conditions on your infrastructure fund
• Explaining how terms and conditions will vary for co-investment arrangements

• Examining the structure of the transaction
• Exploring varying structures for co-investment transactions

This post-conference briefing will give a more in-depth view of the current climate for investments in emerging markets. Each day, more managers are looking to emerging markets to create their next fund. You need to understand how these moves are going to affect your future allocations.

How is the market for privatisations expanding in Central and Eastern Europe? Does Mainland China offer returns at a risk level that is suitable for today’s institutional investor? What is the Indian government doing to open the market to greater foreign investment? Why are so many investors looking to Latin America? Where are the political risks proving too great for pension funds? Find out the answers to these questions and more!

This briefing is the perfect compliment to the seasoned investor’s conference participation. If you are a pension fund, endowment, private equity firm, real estate investor or fund manager looking to increase exposure in these vastly growing markets, you cannot afford to miss this session.

• What is the current state of play among the world’s largest infrastructure managers?
• How many funds are currently offering exposure in emerging markets?
• Are institutional investors already accessing investments directly? Who are the likely investors?

• Explaining how infrastructure fits into the private equity equation
• Why the wide disparity in asset valuations by different private equity funds?
• How accessing assets directly can maximize value

• Exploring the various types of risk associated with emerging market investments
• Illustrating a risk assessment model and how it can be applied
• What are governments doing to minimise the effects of regulatory and political risks?

• What  size allocation do investors anticipate? Will they come from or remain a part of their equity allocation?
• Discussing deals done to date – where have investments been made and how?
• How are investors researching the markets? How are they sourcing investments?

• Discussing the latest developments in infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe
• The finance structure - how it varies in equity/financing from traditional projects
• Will a secondary market eventually develop in this region?

• What are China’s hottest sectors and can they align with your investment strategy?
• Opportunities  and challenges for foreign investors
• Overcoming China’s legal hurdles to make tomorrow’s investments workable
• A climate for change – when will legislation become more transparent?
• Risks in Chinese PPPs and lessons learned

• Identifying the highest performing sectors – can they match your objectives?
• Assessing the current types and levels of risk
• How governments are working to mitigate risk and attract more foreign investors
• Vietnam - is it a structural reform, or a cyclical play?

• Current regional cooperation in cross-border infrastructure developments
• Managing and balancing stakeholders’ interest in cross-border projects
• Best practices for private involvement in infrastructure in developing countries

• Why governments are pushing for greater private sector involvement in development of local infrastructure
• What affect does such strong participation by traditional private equity investors have on this market?
• In a region so rich in greenfield development, who are the likely investors?
• Why are so many investors already looking to diversify and invest offshore?

• Addressing the growth and opportunity in toll roads in Mexico, Chile and Brazil
• Answering the questions of risk and volatility in unstable political climates
• How developments in financing structures have increased sponsor options
• Relating the impact of the first PPS (Proyectos para Prestación de Servicios) projects
• Explaining how existing PPP programs in constituent Mexican states have proven successful in raising financing off the back of existing assets
• Are Mexican infrastructure funds working to provide attractive assets for secondary investors?