The value of assets owned by the 100 largest institutional infrastructure investors has broken past the US$1trn (€867bn) barrier for the first time, while a growing proportion of investors expect to increase allocation targets, according to IPE Real Assets research.
The aggregate value of assets held by IPE Real Assets’ Top 100 infrastructure investors has risen 15% from US$926bn in 2025 to US$1.07trn today.
The figure has effectively tripled since the ranking began in 2017, when assets stood at US$360bn.
The growth rate appears to have returned to a level last seen in 2023 – following a slowdown over the past two years when assets grew by 11% in 2024 and 8% in 2025.
The top 100 is led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, with $78.2bn in infrastructure holdings.
The annual ranking covers pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers and other institutional capital owners. It is based on IPE Research survey, Rainmaker and publicly available information, predominantly in the form of annual reports. Where accurate numbers were not available, estimates have been made, and some investors have not been included because of a lack of information.
A parallel survey of institutional investors found that investors remain close to their allocation targets for the second year in a row, with average exposure of 7%, just below average target allocations of 7.6%.
But this year, the survey suggested more investors expected to increase their target allocations in the coming 18 months – 43.5% versus 19.2% last year. The largest group, at 47.8%, expected to maintain current levels.
Risks: regulation, valuations and a resurgence in core
Energy transition was the biggest focus of investors for new investments, with digital infrastructure and transport coming second, according to the survey.
Investors are most concerned about risks relating to regulation and valuation uncertainty, which came joint first, ahead of geopolitics and a potential AI/tech bubble.
The survey also picked up on a shift in investors preference for being on the risk curve, with core (78.3%) taking from value-add (56.5%), which led last year.
