Editorial


BUILD BACK BETTER


CONTENTS


P4 : Build back better in figures The issue explained in six numbers


We’re back! For the first time since February 2020 our roundtable discussion series has been held in person. Zoom was a great alternative, given the circumstances, but you can- not beat the interaction between people who are sitting together in the same room.


And what better topic to debate in our first live event following the lockdowns than build back better? It is a slogan that has been used by organisations, campaign groups and governments around the world. In the UK, it is the basis of Boris Johnson’s plan to not only jumpstart the economy after the impact of the pandemic, but to make us more resilient to future shocks. The main one being, of course, climate change. Levelling up the country is another goal of the plan. Yet improving infrastructure, creating jobs and making the world greener is expensive. The US has allocated $2.2trn (£1.6trn) to the strategy, but it is estimated that there is a $15trn (£11.3trn) shortfall to provide adequate infrastructure globally, according to the Global Infrastructure Hub. So, governments cannot fund their plans alone and so need the sup- port of those responsible for large pots of private capital, such as pen- sion schemes and insurers. We brought such investors together with asset managers to not only discover where the opportunities are and if the risk is worth the reward, but what is needed to ease their capital into the right projects. We hope you enjoy reading the discussion from page 8 as much as we enjoyed hosting it.


Mark Dunne Editor


m.dunne@portfolio-institutional.co.uk


P5: The participants An introduction to the people taking part in the debate


P6-17: The debate Asset owners and the guardians of institu- tional capital discuss how the build back better political slogan should be funded


P18-19: An investment for the post-Covid period


BNP Paribas Asset Management’s Karen Azoulay asks if infrastructure debt is the ideal investment in a world recovering from a pandemic


P20-21: Time to re-think risk? Simon Hallett of Cambridge Associates considers if Covid-19 has changed how we should approach the markets


P22-25: Feature: Bridging the gap Will supporting the world’s infrastructure plans provide the secure cashflows long- term investors need?


Dec-Jan 2022 portfolio institutional roundtable: Build Back Better


3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28