Infrastructure funds looking for record capital

story_images_south-african-mountain-roadA Preqin report finds that both the number and aggregate capital sought by unlisted infrastructure funds have reached an all-time high with 145 funds seeking US$97 billion in capital commitments, respectively.

More than 50% of the funds in the market have already held an interim close, raising a combined $26 billion toward their aggregate target capital.

The first three quarters of the year saw 29 unlisted funds holding final closes securing $18.1 billion, compared with $11.7 billion raised in the same period in 2012.

“Despite a drop in fundraising in Q3 2013 compared to the previous quarter, 2013 so far has seen significantly more capital raised than in the same period last year, demonstrating the increasing appetite among investors for the asset class,” says Elliot Bradbrook, Preqin’s manager, infrastructure data.

The largest unlisted infrastructure fund in the market is Brookfield Infrastructure Fund II, managed by Brookfield Asset Management.

The fund was targeting $5 billion in investor commitments but has already secured more than $6 billion and targets a range of large-scale infrastructure transactio