Vantage Point: Investing for Alpha  

What's happening to infrastructure funds?

Sullivan expects the value of some of the assets held in infrastructure funds to be written down this year. 

Hose says another consideration is that many infrastructure investment funds have taken on short-term debt in recent years in order to finance their operations.

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He says when these trusts have to refinance their debt, they will have to pay higher interest rates than has been the case in the recent past, which would have a negative impact on the returns investors can expect in future. 

Hose says this could lead to funds selling assets in the coming months as they seek to raise capital to pay down debts.

Investor demand continues to be strong for infrastructure open-ended funds, with the latest data from the Investment Association showing inflows of just over £200mn in September.

Whether that trend can continue as assets get written down in the months to come is something advisers and their clients will be watching keenly.

David Thorpe is special projects editor at FTAdviser