Infratil is the winner of Fund Performance of the Year in APAC, as judges marvelled at the listed fund’s ability to raise capital in tricky market conditions.   

Morrison-managed Infratil is one of the world’s first listed infrastructure funds, with a 30-year track record.   

Judges noted the fund’s strong performance to the year ended 31 March 2024 , with a total shareholder return of 21.7%, exceeding its target returns to shareholders. The submission noted that the earnings growth reflected strong performances from CDC Data Centres, Wellington Airport and One NZ. 

The Wellington-headquartered infrastructure investment firm in June 2024 concluded its largest ever equity raise, totalling NZ$1.275 billion ($760.3m). The placement attracted significant interest from both existing shareholders and new investors in New Zealand, Australia, and offshore, being oversubscribed by approximately 3-4 times in both the placement and the retail offer.  

A member of the independent judging panel said: “It is notable that the fund managed to raise capital while some of its peers have struggled.” 

While another judge said: “The submission clearly demonstrated measurable result in fund returns, which can be calculated through changes in the share price. It is notable to see that the fund has posted positive returns in the market where its peers have traded at below NAV. While part of the success can be attributed to the macro factors, the submission demonstrates asset management and value add activities across variety of subsectors.” 

The submission noted that the June 2024 capital raise was largely to support CDC’s accelerating growth.  

According to the submission: “CDC has reinforced its position as a leading owner, operator, and developer of highly secure, sovereign, and connected large-scale data centres in Australasia. In FY24 CDC delivered a record 200MW in new contracted capacity, the largest ever addition in 12 months, while also achieving over 25% earnings growth. With 8 data centres under construction, accelerating development activity is a major priority. The transformative shift in customer demand has expanded CDC’s development pipeline by over 400MW in FY2024, a significant increase from a year ago.” 

Infratil in FY24 deployed NZ$2.2 billion. This included the completion of Infratil’s acquisition of Brookfield’s 49.95% stake in One NZ for NZ$1.8 billion, increasing Infratil’s ownership from 49.95% to 99.90%.  

It also agreed a strategic partnership with HKT, a leading telecommunications company in Hong Kong, to accelerate the growth of Console Connect. Infratil will initially acquire an 80% stake in Console Connect from HKT for $160 million. Infratil will also enter into a strategic partnership with HKT, with both jointly investing up to $295 million over a 2-year period following completion of the acquisition.