Insights

Consistent with trends in past budgets, the 2021 Federal Budget saw the Commonwealth Treasurer identify a further A$15.2 billion in new spending on major infrastructure projects, keeping the decade-long infrastructure investment program at A$110 billion. This will spearhead the Federal Government's efforts to boost both jobs and productivity in the COVID-affected national economy.

While the speed of ultimate decarbonisation remains unclear, there appears to be a real opportunity for multi-decade investment as every country moves towards a cleaner environment.

To state the obvious, 2020 was a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges the likes of which individuals, businesses and governments have never experienced before. The impact of this was to push an otherwise pretty robust global economy into recession, force lockdowns and create social dislocation on a previously unimaginable scale. 

The November 2020 US presidential election is between two polarising individuals in Donald Trump and Joe Biden, who represent very different views and approaches to leading the US for the next four-year presidential term. The policy positions of the two parties are likely to have far-reaching impacts on the US and global economy; and specifically, infrastructure investment.

The world has enjoyed over a century of ‘progress’ which has seen developed market industrialisation, huge and ongoing population growth, globalisation and, in more recent times, the emergence of a growing middle class in developing countries.

In this article, Senior Investment Analyst Peter Aquilina and Global Portfolio Manager Sarah Shaw discuss why 4D Infrastructure believes direct and listed allocations complement each other in portfolio construction.

In this edition of Global Matters, Sarah Shaw (4D CIO & Global Portfolio Manager) revisits listed infrastructure’s unique and compelling characteristics, outlining why 4D continues to love the sector and why we believe it will be central to the global economic recovery when it comes.

This is the ninth in our series of Trip Insights, where we share those experiences. It follows a trip during February/March 2020 when Peter Aquilina, 4D Senior Investment Analyst, completed an extensive company engagement and calling program in the United States meeting with management teams from Oil & Gas Infrastructure, Regulated Utilities and Renewables.

How will the impacts of COVID-19 differ between emerging markets and their developed counterparts?