Replicating infrastructure exposure with structured products

Investment in major construction projects has traditionally been the domain of specialists prepared to lock up large sums of capital for the long term. However, new equity products are attempting to replicate that exposure and attract a wider pool of investors. Dawn Cowie investigates

Three years on from the 2007 peak in equities and market jitters continue to keep the Dow Jones Industrial Average bouncing around the 10,000 mark. So it is little wonder that investors are looking to alternative asset classes such as infrastructure to provide stable returns in the medium to long term.

Roads, railways, energy grids and communications networks are the essential building blocks of any economy. Today about $1 trillion is spent annually on infrastructure investment and maintenance