• The Constitutional Debate: examining the implications of the federal vs state constitutional debate upon infrastructure investing
• What rights do States have to block infrastructure investment?
• Potential impact on institutional investors of political risk
• Is there concern that tax payers ultimately bear the liability in privatization of public toll roads?
• How can US states work to finding the most adequate solution?

• Examining the pros and cons of allowing private investment in infrastructure
• What advantages do PPPs offer?
• How should North American States move forward?

• Why infrastructure? what are you seeking from its inclusion in the portfolio?
• How can the balance be struck between direct investments, co-investments and funds?
• What mistakes have been made? How can they be avoided?

• 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

• Comparing infrastructure with private equity, hedge funds, real estate and commodities
• How interconnected are these different investments?

• 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?
• Ascertaining where and when to invest

• Examining trends in products, terms and structures
• Outlining the main drivers for listed and unlisted vehicles
• Discussing the impact of different legal and regulatory regimes on fund structures
• Exit routes for illiquid funds
• New quoted markets

• Does increased levels of debt affect investor confidence?
• Are high asset prices a barrier to entry?
• How will the proliferation of funds affect the market? Will price contractions be seen?

• Ascertaining the ways in which the manager’s background can affect the fund’s deal flow
• How experience in negotiating tight concession agreements proves beneficial
• Why and when relevant operational experience can prove crucial to mitigating your risk
• Why debt financing may need to be a key skill

For the first time ever delegates will get the chance to spilt up into four groups headed by one roundtable leader with a flipchart. Use these sessions to debate infrastructure’s most controversial issues in an interactive and informal format.

Roundtable 1
Privatization & PPPs: which is the best model for the US market?

Roundtable 2
Are infrastructure deals overpriced?

Roundtable 3Exit strategies: how can investors predict their future cashflows

Roundtable 4Sovereign Investment Funds: positive or negative influence on the American infrastructure market?

• What are the key success factors?
• What are the key challenges for investors in considering sectors?
• Examining the risk and return of potential investments

• What are the consequences of lack of funds for communities?
• Examining how private investments can facilitate development
• How successful has the process been for the Jacksonville community?

• Understanding investors’ key motivators – why water, why now?
• Relating the impact of privatization on the organization
• 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

• Are pension funds ready for emerging infrastructure markets?
• Which markets are currently offering opportunities appropriately matched to the risk/return profile of today’s leading pension funds?
• Differentiating between emerging market debt and infrastructure investing
• Understanding when an infrastructure investment becomes a specialist form of private equity
• What size allocation do investors anticipate? Will they come from or remain a part of their equity allocation?

• How developed is the Italian PPP market?
• How can PPP techniques be promoted?
• Developing the skills of the dedicated officials at every government level: setting up a network of regional task forces
• Implementing a regulatory framework: what are the possible bottlenecks in the infrastructure implementation process
• Developing and implementing new financial tools: public revolving funds, equity and mezzanine funds, water services in the utility market

• What do investors need to consider when investing in emerging markets?
• What are the pitfalls that are commonly overlooked?
• How do the projects maintain their assets and what future needs are there?

• Political risk in North America – will these risks get in the way of market development?
• What are governments doing to minimize the effects of regulatory and political risks?
• Understanding which sectors are at greater regulatory risk
• How a push for greater competition in some sectors can impact your investment
• Illustrating a risk assessment model and how it can be applied

• What new sectors can investors move into?
• How much will investors allocate over the next year?
• Will America catch up with Europe and Australia?

Infrastructure explained: an introduction to infrastructure as an alternative 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.

• Defining characteristics – what to look for; what is and is not ‘infrastructure’
• A little history and state of the market – is now the right time to be investing in this sector?

• Discussing similarities in nature to fixed income, real estate and private equity

• The missing link – how infrastructure provides unique inflation-linked returns
• Identifying the benefits of diversification for institutional investors

• 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

• How do water utilities, toll roads, ports and alternative energy compare?

Structuring funds and co-investment transactions: a practical guide to legal, tax and regulatory issues for US and global infrastructure funds

By partnering together on this workshop Goodwin Procter LLP and SJ Berwin LLP are able to share their global insight on infrastructure funds and investments by drawing upon their experience structuring funds and raising capital worldwide, and deploying capital in transactions both in the US and European markets.

This workshop 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 optimize 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.