Readers of the print magazine will also notice that IPE Real Assets has been transformed with a fresh design – albeit, the objective of exploring and documenting the ever-changing challenges and opportunities of real assets will remain.
Cities are complex, fast-growing centres of urbanisation and civilisation, and in the latest edition we have taken a step back to explore their purpose in today’s world of climate change, technology and economic inequality.
Are they for working, living, hospitality, entertainment and culture – in the way they were in the past? We turn to experts such as Greg Clark, Lisette van Doorn and Carlo Ratti for answers.
We also explore Oxford Economics’ latest global cities ranking. The index compares global destinations by scoring them on a range of factors, such as economic prowess, human capital, liveability, environment and culture.
Our first major interview under the new design is with Pierre Cherki and Jenny Hammarlund who are leading the next chapter in Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s real estate journey – from Toronto and London, respectively.
The publication also features our annual infrastructure investor survey and our ranking of the 100 largest investors in the asset class. These show that institutional investor exposure to infrastructure continues to climb, albeit growth slowed over the past 12 months. According to IPE Real Assets’ ranking of the top 100 infrastructure investors, the aggregate value of assets rose another 8% to reach US$926bn. It represents a slowdown though, as over a five-year period total assets have almost doubled – from US$467bn in 2020.
Our survey of pension funds and other similar institutional asset owners suggests that after years of building up exposure to infrastructure, they are getting close to their target allocations and that much of the future growth will come from maintaining levels of exposure to keep pace with their overall asset bases. Some large players, including Canada Pension Plan Investment will have to invest heavily to maintain their targets.
Richard Lowe, editor-in-chief
