Standard & Poor’s Fund Services has announced the release of ratings from its 2012 listed infrastructure sector review.
The 2012 sector review is our fifth review of listed infrastructure products and covers five listed-infrastructure strategies and three investment managers.
S&P’s fund analyst Nathan Bode said: “In recent years, the global listed infrastructure sector has performed broadly in line with expectations. While global equity markets have fallen, the infrastructure sector has proven reasonably resilient; outperforming broader equities. The listed infrastructure sector has experienced lower volatility, lower drawdown, and a relatively low return correlation when compared with broader equities. These characteristics continue to make listed infrastructure an attractive proposition within a diversified investment portfolio.”
“As demand for the listed infrastructure sector grows, the number of investment offerings in the market also grows. As the number of investment offerings grows, so do opportunities for investment practitioners. To date, this has played out in a number of ways: through a heightened level of team augmentation, as well as team turnover,” said Mr Bode.
There continues to be no five-star rated managers in the peer group; of the active managers, there is only one rated four stars. The ‘On Hold’ ratings of AMP Capital’s global listed infrastructure funds have been resolved as part of this review; with the previous three-star ratings reinstated. While we believe there are benefits in bringing in-house the management of AMP Capital’s listed infrastructure capability, the team—in its current form and structure—remains unproven over a market cycle.
26 July 2012
