Cezary Podkul

For pensions looking to get into infrastructure, the inaugural ranking of the 30 largest infrastructure investors in the world – compiled by Infrastructure Investor magazine – shows that direct investing is the way to build a hefty investment programme in the asset class.

But the immediate focus of the state’s one-year-old PPP programme is to deliver the West by Northwest project, Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Vance Smith said at the Infrastructure Investor: Southeast forum.

Bank-affiliated infrastructure platforms dominate The Infrastructure Investor 30, a new annual ranking of industry players. Together the 30 largest infrastructure investment groups have formed $140.5 billion of capital for the asset class over the past five years.

The creation of consistent rules for a compelling, apples-to-apples ranking of the largest investors in the asset class caused us to reach further and dig deeper than any other ranking of infrastructure investors ever before.

Meridiam, ACS and VINCI were among the familiar names who submitted responses to the Georgia Department of Transportation’s request for qualifications for the ‘West by Northwest’ road project in metropolitan Atlanta. One portion of the project could cost as much as $1bn to build.

The $132bn California State Teachers' Retirement System named Diloshini Seneviratne, a senior investment officer on its private equity team, as its first portfolio manager for infrastructure.

Henning Eckermann, the Swiss alternatives manager’s chief economist, warned investors gathered at the Infrastructure Investor: Europe 2010 forum that developed markets face 75% chance of inflation in the range of 5% to 7%. As a hedge, he recommended they increase their exposure to real assets.

The $30.5bn Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association will wait to make investments in the asset class because infrastructure is still too 'under-developed'.

The pension is also planning on making $400m of direct investments in infrastructure in 2010 as it further builds up a team to make such investments, according to a presentation prepared for the investment committee of the $205.8bn pension.

Earl Mahfuz, the state’s new PPP director, said in an interview that Georgia’s first project, the $2.3bn ‘West by Northwest’ toll road development is being modeled after the North Tarrant Express in Texas. Both projects will share the use of pre-development agreements, managed lanes and financing techniques.