More than half of financial advisers surveyed said they expect increased levels of demand from clients for UK infrastructure assets in the next five years.
Almost six out of 10 (59 per cent) of the 206 advisers spoken to by Foresight, which is an infrastructure investment house, said they expect demand to increase and three quarters said they are bullish on the prospects for the asset class in the years ahead.
Advisers said they expect infrastructure assets to do well as the asset class offers protection against the different potential areas of volatility likely to impact the market in the years ahead.
Three in 10 (32 per cent) advisers polled said they were looking to increase their clients’ allocation to the asset class over the next three years.
Foresight’s analysis revealed that UK Listed Infrastructure investment companies significantly outperformed UK equity markets over five years to August 2017.
The FTSE All Share grew 61 per cent compared to 70 per cent for UK Listed Infrastructure investment companies while also experiencing significantly lower volatility (4.9 per cent against 13.1 per cent) over the same period.
Simon Bullock, Chartered financial planner at Mulberry Bow, said: “Infrastructure assets have performed tremendously well over the last few years and many of my clients expect that trend to continue.
"Foresight’s research has shown that infrastructure has become an increasingly popular asset class for investors as it helps mitigate against investment portfolio threats such as volatility, inflation, rising interest rates and wider macroeconomic underperformance.
"We believe infrastructure is an exciting sector for our clients and would welcome more investment products in this space.”
david.thorpe@ft.com
