Infrastructure
Generating regular income from essential, sustainable infrastructure
We focus on delivering long term, stable cash flows to investors through simple, long-life infrastructure.
What we offer
- Attractive, stable distributions
- ESG-driven investment approach
- Low-risk strategy
- A highly experienced team which has been innovating and transacting together since 2012
- A market leading team in the sectors we target
What this gives you
- An attractive, risk-managed return
- An ESG-positive investment
- Cashflow generating / cashflow matching allocation
- Inflation protection through consistent cashflows with inflation linkage
- A de-risked allocation with low correlation to other major asset classes
- Long-term, predictable income
What is infrastructure?
We define infrastructure as essential, long-life assets upon which the economic activity of society depends. For investors seeking long-term returns from investments which make a positive impact on our environment and society, infrastructure can be an attractive asset class. It’s natural to think of things made from using a lot of concrete and steel when thinking about essential infrastructure but what makes it essential is that (a) it provides a service that is integral to our way of life; and (b) that service can’t readily be provided by others.
Its importance to society, combined with the difficulty to substitute it, meant that historically many infrastructure assets were financed and owned by the state. Today these assets are increasingly owned and operated by private enterprises – often closely regulated by the state that previously owned them.
Stable societal demand leads to stable revenues that are less affected by the economy and market conditions than many other investment sectors.
Infrastructure provides the opportunity to invest in stable, long-term assets with excellent ESG, cashflow matching and inflation-linked characteristics and to achieve attractive returns.
“Our investment strategy allows investors the ability to combine attractive financial returns while positively contributing to the world we live in – now and in the future”
IAN BERRY, HEAD OF INFRASTRUCTURE
Our investment philosophy
Unconventional approach
As market leaders in our targeted sectors, we don’t ‘follow the herd’ in seeking out interesting and innovative opportunities. We have the necessary skill and experience to explore a wide range of opportunities. Our experience, relationships and flexibility allow us to find ‘hidden gems’ that other managers often overlook.
ESG proactive
Environmental, social and governance considerations have always been integral to our investment selection and management. While our investments have a positive ESG impact implicit in their very nature, our pre-investment evaluation and due-diligence process examines potential ESG risks, opportunities and actions. It is a determining factor in whether we move forward with an investment, and how we drive positive change post-acquisition and beyond.
Low-risk investments
With an approach taken by very few infrastructure managers, we seek to reduce risks and enhance the predictability of income. We usually achieve this through gaining greater control in the running of each underlying business, and not taking on external debt obligations. As part of this active approach to infrastructure investing, we usually own a project or buy a business outright to ensure our involvement in that company’s success is always as a decision maker rather than a passive bystander or shareholder. What that means for our investors is that they don’t own a sliver of equity beneath a pile of debt – they own the actual infrastructure.
High yield, low risk
Our strategy targets high, stable yields by owning stable, high profit margin infrastructure assets. The combination of our low-risk approach (e.g. no external debt) and our robust risk management processes when applied to such assets results in resilient and predictable long-term cashflows. These are delivered to our investors through regular distributions. Our approach can generate attractive, steady yields and, by not utilising high levels of debt like the majority of our peers - where the majority of cashflows are being used to service that debt and long-term returns are reliant on both the current and future cost of debt - risks are materially lower than the infrastructure industry average.
Sectors
We focus on a small number of sectors. We are focused on making good investments in sectors that offer investments that suit our clients' requirements for stable, predictable income, not simply diversifying across sectors for the sake of it. Our team has substantial experience across a wide number of sectors, which allows us to be highly selective in adding only the most attractive opportunities to our portfolio.
Our Infrastructure team leaders
Ian Berry
Head of Infrastructure
Ian Berry
Head of Infrastructure
Ian has over 25 years’ experience as an infrastructure investment professional, with extensive experience in establishing, investing and managing funds and investing in energy-transition and digital-transition infrastructure. Ian’s experience includes: building and leading infrastructure teams/businesses, defining fund strategy, determining portfolio construction, investment strategy, overseeing origination and post-acquisition investment management and client engagement. Ian’s background is also heavily focused on the infrastructure sector with experience in infrastructure lending, infrastructure M&A advisory, deal execution, financial modelling and valuations and sector research.
Allan Vlah
Partner, Infrastructure
Allan Vlah
Partner, Infrastructure
Allan has approximately 20 years’ experience as a buy-side infrastructure investment professional with deep European experience in the sustainable energy and transportation sectors from both transaction origination/execution and post-acquisition management perspectives. An extensive track record developing and leading investment strategies. At Aviva Investors, Allan previously led the infrastructure equity’s thermal power investment strategy where he oversaw the creation of one of the UK’s largest EfW portfolios that spanned a dozen investments through a mix of equity and real estate investments covering conventional combustion, gasification and anaerobic digestion technologies. At Aviva, Allan also established the infrastructure lease strategy and the Energy Centres Fund where he acted as portfolio manager and led development of the equity teams’ European waste strategy. Allan’s experience at Macquarie’s European Infrastructure Fund (MEIF) covered acquisition activities in the transportation and heating sectors as well as asset manager for the UK largest maritime passenger company. Skilled in Portfolio Construction, Asset Management, Valuation, Financial Modelling, and Investments.
Fergus Helliwell
Partner, Infrastructure
Fergus Helliwell
Partner, Infrastructure
Fergus has approximately 9 years’ experience as an infrastructure investment professional with experience working across a number of infrastructure funds investing and managing in social infrastructure as well as renewable energy investments. Fergus’ experience includes: investment strategy development and implementation, origination and postacquisition investment management, fundraising and client engagement.
Contact our Distribution team for further information
George Judd
UK Institutional Distribution
George Judd
UK Institutional Distribution
George graduated from the University of Newcastle with an Upper Second Class degree in History in 2016 before joining R&M. George works in the UK Institutional distribution team where he covers all institutional channels but with a particular focus on UK consultant relations.
Lucy Draper
Director, Institutional Distribution
Lucy Draper
Director, Institutional Distribution
Lucy joined the Institutional sales team at River and Mercantile in 2022 from its parent company, AssetCo, where she has been Director of Distribution, leading International Business Development for AssetCo and its affiliates since 2021. In her 15 years in the industry, she has worked in London, the Middle East and Asia, raising assets across multiple asset classes from wholesale and institutional clients. Prior to joining AssetCo, Lucy climbed the ranks at Aberdeen Asset Management (Abrdn). In addition to sales, Lucy leads on the cloud based wealth platform project in the US and is an advocate for diversity within the industry, actively promoting inclusion, gender and social mobility.