GLOBAL - The CAD$155bn (€118bn) Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is seeking to increase its allocation to infrastructure projects in Australia as part of its plan to increase long-dated investments.

In a speech made in Sydney earlier this week, CPPIB chief executive David Denison said long-duration infrastructure assets were "highly attractive investments" for the pension plan, as it managed a portfolio "that spans multiple generations".

Denison said: "We see ample opportunities to invest in Australian businesses and other assets that will both generate economic activity here and provide the returns we need to sustain the Canada Pension Plan at home.

"We are good owners of these important assets, as we have no intention or need to sell them and indeed every incentive to reinvest in them to ensure they continue to fulfil their intended purpose and generate cash flows over many years for our fund."

However, Denison argued that the ability for CPPIB and other investors to make infrastructure investments was predicated on two factors.

First, countries should be open for foreign ownership of domestic companies and assets, he said, and second, countries should offer an adequate supply of long-term investment capital to match the profile and needs of companies and assets.

Denison welcomed the fact that the Australian government had decided to promote the private ownership of infrastructure operating, but he regretted the lack of such agreements in other countries.

"Unfortunately, Australia is one of only a small number of countries that has embraced this private ownership of infrastructure model," Denison said.

"When we talk to public officials in countries around the world about the possibility of privatising infrastructure, we invariably point them to Australia as a successful example of how to execute the necessary policy framework."

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