Investor types

Infrastructure investors

Infrastructure investors put capital into long-life essential assets such as energy, transport, digital networks, utilities and social infrastructure. Fundraising for the asset class reached a record in 2025, with capital concentrated in the largest managers.

What infrastructure investors are

Infrastructure investors own or finance long-life essential assets in energy, transport, digital infrastructure, utilities and social infrastructure. The group includes infrastructure fund managers and the institutions that commit capital to their funds or co-invest alongside them.

The type differs from real estate investors because its cash flows are typically regulated or contracted rather than set by leases. Many infrastructure assets have few or no competitors, operate under concessions or licences granted by the state and sell services for which demand changes little with the economic cycle. It differs from private equity funds because holding periods are longer and returns depend more on stable income than on operational change.

Scale of infrastructure fundraising

Two industry publishers measured record fundraising in 2025, using different rules for which funds to include. With Intelligence counted 71 closed-ended infrastructure funds raising US$224bn in 2025, with a further US$20bn raised as co-investment capital. Total capital raised was up 126% year on year (With Intelligence, 17 April 2026).¹ Infrastructure Investor reported nearly US$300bn raised in 2025, against circa US$200bn in the previous high years of 2021 and 2022 (Infrastructure Investor, 8 January 2026).²

The 2025 figures followed a weaker year. CBRE Investment Management reported that capital raised in 2024 was slightly shy of US$100bn, and that dry powder, capital committed but not yet invested, stood at US$335bn, 24% of infrastructure assets under management (CBRE Investment Management, 20 March 2025, citing Preqin).³

By regional focus, funds closed in the first three quarters of 2025 raised US$133.9bn for multi-region strategies, US$32.9bn for North America, US$27.5bn for Europe and US$3.9bn for Asia Pacific (Infrastructure Investor, Q3 2025).⁴ Multi-region funds therefore dominate.

Strategies and sub-types

Infrastructure strategies fall into seven categories by risk and return:

Core: mature regulated or long-contracted assets such as electricity and gas networks, water utilities, toll roads, ports and airports.
Core-plus: assets with contracted income and some growth, a category that now includes much digital infrastructure such as data centres, fibre networks and telecommunications towers.
Value-add: assets that need construction, expansion or repositioning, including much energy transition investment in battery storage, wind and solar.
Opportunistic.
Debt.
Secondaries.
Co-investment.

Core-plus was the largest strategy in 2025, raising US$101bn, nearly half of the total capital counted by With Intelligence.¹

Vehicles take three main forms: closed-ended limited partnerships with a fixed term, open-ended funds with no fixed end date that suit core assets and consortia in which several investors acquire an asset directly.

Source of capital and investment horizon

The capital behind infrastructure funds comes mainly from pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds. These investors hold long-dated liabilities or have long investment horizons, and many infrastructure contracts and tariffs are linked to inflation, which suits them.

How infrastructure investors deploy capital

Institutions reach the asset class through three routes: commitments to closed-ended or open-ended funds, co-investment alongside those funds in individual assets and, for the largest institutions, direct acquisitions alone or in consortia. Co-investment added US$20bn to the capital raised in 2025, according to With Intelligence.¹

Deal sizes

The largest infrastructure transactions are now measured in tens of billions. A consortium led by Blackstone, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, completed its acquisition of the data centre operator AirTrunk in a transaction of A$24bn, which AirTrunk described as the largest data centre deal worldwide to date (AirTrunk, 23 December 2024).⁸ Transactions on that scale are typically financed by several investors together, with fund capital supplemented by co-investment from the fund's own limited partners.

How decisions are made and how long they take

Fundraising is slow. Infrastructure funds that reached a final close in the first quarter of 2025 had spent just over 27 months in the market, according to Infrastructure Investor.⁵

An investment committee approving an infrastructure acquisition relies on diligence that goes beyond financial analysis:

Regulatory and concession review: how tariffs are set, when the regulator next resets them and the political risk to the concession.
Technical review: the condition of the asset, its future capital expenditure and, for energy assets, connection to the grid.
Environmental and climate review: emissions, remediation liabilities and the asset's resilience to physical climate risk.

What investors look for and why they decline

Investors in 2025 committed mainly to established managers. First-time funds contributed just 8% of total capital raised, while funds that were a manager's fourth or later vehicle raised US$122bn, 54% of the total (With Intelligence).¹

At asset level, investors look for three things: a strong market position with high barriers to entry; revenues that are regulated, contracted or linked to inflation; and creditworthy counterparties. They decline assets exposed to unhedged market prices or volumes, to cuts in regulated tariffs, to rapid technological obsolescence or to environmental liabilities without a cap.

Regulation and governance

Acquisitions of infrastructure are commonly subject to national security screening. In the UK, the National Security and Investment Act 2021 gives the government a power to call in acquisitions for scrutiny on national security grounds and sets out a mandatory notification procedure for specified acquisitions.⁹ Other jurisdictions operate comparable foreign investment screening regimes.

Regulated utilities are also overseen by economic regulators, which set the revenue a network company may earn. In the UK, Ofgem regulates energy networks and Ofwat regulates water companies. Under a regulated asset base model, the regulator allows the owner a return on the value of its asset base, together with operating costs and depreciation, and resets the terms at periodic reviews.

Trends in 2025 and 2026

2025 was a record year for infrastructure fundraising on both published measures.^1,2 Capital was concentrated: the 20 largest funds accounted for nearly 80% of total capital raised, and the three largest funds together raised US$70bn (With Intelligence).¹

The largest close was Global Infrastructure Partners V, part of BlackRock, on US$25.2bn. With that close, capital raised in the first half of 2025 already exceeded the total for the whole of 2024 (Infrastructure Investor, H1 2025).⁶

Digital infrastructure has become a central theme, driven by demand for data centres and the power to run them; the AirTrunk acquisition shows the scale of capital involved.⁸

Notable infrastructure managers

The Infrastructure Investor 100 ranks managers by capital raised for infrastructure equity funds that held a final close between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025 (Infrastructure Investor, 1 June 2026).⁷

Name	Headquarters	Capital raised, 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025
BlackRock (including Global Infrastructure Partners)	New York	US$113,365m⁷
KKR	New York	US$100,475m⁷
Brookfield Asset Management	New York	US$99,112m⁷
EQT	Stockholm	US$58,034m⁷

Assets under management published by managers on their own websites give a second measure of size:

Name	Headquarters	Assets under management, with date
Brookfield Asset Management (infrastructure)	New York	US$262bn of infrastructure assets under management, company website, October 2026¹¹
Macquarie Asset Management	Sydney	About A$722.1bn across all asset classes, 31 March 2026¹⁰
Stonepeak	New York	About US$98bn, including subsequent committed capital, June 2026¹²
Antin Infrastructure Partners	Paris	More than €33bn, 31 December 2025¹³

How advisers and placement agents work with infrastructure investors

Placement agents help managers raise new funds. With funds spending more than two years in the market⁵ and first-time funds taking a small share of capital¹, managers raising a new fund face a long and competitive process.

On the transaction side, financial advisers run sales of infrastructure assets and concessions, assemble equity consortia for large acquisitions, arrange project finance debt and coordinate the technical and regulatory diligence that buyers require. Advisers also arrange secondary sales of interests in infrastructure funds. Anglo-Suisse Capital advises on capital raising, M&A and secondary transactions with professional investors.

Frequently asked questions

Was 2025 a record year for infrastructure fundraising?

Yes. With Intelligence counted US$224bn raised by closed-ended funds¹ and Infrastructure Investor reported nearly US$300bn.² The two totals differ because the publishers include different funds.

Can first-time infrastructure managers raise capital?

They can, but they took just 8% of capital raised in 2025, according to With Intelligence.¹

Which infrastructure strategy raised the most in 2025?

Core-plus, which raised US$101bn, nearly half of all capital raised.¹

How long does an infrastructure fund take to raise?

Funds that closed in the first quarter of 2025 took just over 27 months to reach a final close.⁵

Who is the largest infrastructure manager?

BlackRock, including Global Infrastructure Partners, which raised US$113,365m in funds closed between 2021 and 2025.⁷

Is there uninvested infrastructure capital?

Yes. CBRE Investment Management reported dry powder of US$335bn, 24% of infrastructure assets under management, in March 2025.³

What is the difference between regulated and merchant infrastructure?

Regulated infrastructure earns revenues set by an economic regulator. Merchant infrastructure sells its output, such as power, at market prices and so carries price and volume risk.

Do UK infrastructure acquisitions need government clearance?

Acquisitions in specified sectors must be notified under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, and the government can call in other acquisitions on national security grounds.⁹

Working with Anglo-Suisse Capital

Anglo-Suisse Capital advises companies, fund managers and shareholders on capital raising, M&A and secondary transactions with professional investors in the UK, Switzerland and internationally.

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Sources

This page is general information for professional investors and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from the sources listed, as at the dates stated.