ESG on a par with yield when assessing infrastructure assets

The pandemic caused a dip in activity in transport infrastructure investment but as the recovery progresses strong activity is evident across all of the different transport sub-sectors. There has been a substantial number of deals across rail, toll roads, shipping and, significantly, even aviation.

“There’s confidence in the ongoing demand and necessity,” for both rail and toll roads in particular said PricewaterhouseCoopers director, energy and infrastructure deals David Pedler.

Aviation has been hit hardest but there have been large public to private transactions in that sector, Pedler told Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts.

But whichever the sub-sector, ESG is on a par with yield and other financial measures when assessing infrastructure investments. “We’re increasingly seeing investors unwilling to put further capital into assets that don’t have a clear pathway towards net zero,” Pedler said.