Ontario Pension Board (OPB) has committed $200m (€162.8m) to AMP Capital’s global infrastructure strategy.
Launched in October, the strategy is aiming to raise CAD2bn (€1.57bn) for investments in OECD transport, communication and utilities.
AMP, which manages unlisted and listed infrastructure investments in Asia, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, said the strategy currently holds a $750m portfolio of diversified European infrastructure equity assets.
Glenn Hubert, a private markets managing directors at OPB, said the pension fund was attracted by the possibility to gain exposure to multiple, high-quality assets.
OPB had a 3.2% allocation to infrastructure at the end of last year.
The commitment, he added, grows OPB’s presence in North America, a region that AMP has been building its presence in. The manager has an infrastructure equity team in New York.
AMP Capital global head of infrastructure equity Boe Pahari said growing numbers of institutional investors are seeking greater exposure to alternative assets such as infrastructure, attracted to ”predictable risk-adjusted returns, consistent yields and portfolio diversification”.
As reported in October, private equity firm Pantheon is among investors backing AMP Capital’s strategy.
AMP is converting its existing open-ended Strategic Infrastructure Trust of Europe (SITE) fund into the closed-ended Global Infrastructure Fund.
Boe Pahari, AMP head of infrastructure for Europe and the Americas, told IP Real Estate that investors in SITE were in favour of moving to the new global fund.
Pahari said new investors – including pension funds and sovereign wealth funds from Australia, the Middle East, North America and Asia – had backed the fund. Family offices have also committed, he added.
