Actis sees growing investors interest in sustainable infrastructure in emerging regions
SINGAPORE, June 17 (Reuters) - Actis, a London-based global infrastructure investor, sees growing intra-trade among growth markets and increased investor interest in sustainable infrastructure projects, as global capital reallocates from some overexposure in developed markets such as in the U.S. to emerging regions, its chairman told Reuters.
Global economic activity is increasingly focused on regions such as Asia and Latin America, driven by huge population growth and strong demand for energy amid a boom in digital infrastructure, Torbjorn Caesar, who is Actis' senior partner, said in an interview on Monday in Singapore.
Actis is seeking to tap growth by focusing on investments in the electricity sector, such as renewable assets like solar, wind and hybrid projects that combine with battery storage, he said. It is also investing in infrastructure comprising transmission lines and data centers, he added.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT:
Global markets have experienced swings in the initial few months of U.S President Donald Trump's administration as its April 2 move to increase tariffs on trading partners prompted some investors to move away from American assets. Although volatility has eased somewhat, some investors warn the threat of tariff disruptions is not going away anytime soon.
CONTEXT:
In May, Actis announced that it raised $1.7 billion for its second long life infrastructure fund. In October last year, General Atlantic completed the acquisition of Actis. The combination expanded General Atlantic's assets under management to $108 billion, according to a latest press release earlier in June.
KEY QUOTES:
"The need for electricity is massive. If you're looking in at the markets in, what we refer to as 'most of the world' across Latin America or Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia, it's not so much talk about energy transition, and of course that is important, but it's also energy addition, because the electricity demand is growing over time. It is growing with economic activity, growth with the demographics, in terms of the population growth, there's a massive need for new electricity," Caesar said.
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