Infrastructure

Closely connected for
enhanced outcomes

At a glance

0
Team began investing in Infrastructure assets
$ 0 bn
Total invested capital
0
direct infrastructure assets in a diversified portfolio

Source: Federated Hermes as at 31 March 2024. The value of investments and income from them may go down as well as up, and you may not get back the original amount invested.

Ports & Logistics: Associated British Ports

Perry Noble
Quote

We seek to engage with company boards to exercise positive influence on the activities of the company in the interests of all stakeholders. It is private markets governance and engagement in action.

Why Federated Hermes Infrastructure?

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Investee company engagement

Our strategy involves taking (usually) minority stakes in large, well-positioned, unlisted infrastructure companies, securing governance rights that include representation on boards and board committees. This approach allows us to build close relationships with business leaders and make targeted interventions to guide company activity.

Deep local knowledge

We specialise in investing in predominantly UK assets on behalf of UK pension funds. This distinctive position in the market has allowed us to acquire a deep-rooted understanding of the political and regulatory environment in which we operate. By leveraging this highly localised approach, we have developed strong, longstanding relationships across the sector.

Leveraging sustainability expertise

Drawing on our firm’s long-established sustainability expertise, we have developed proprietary assessment and reporting tools that allow us to integrate sustainability into all aspects of our infrastructure investments. We identify risks at the outset of the investment process and monitor progress throughout the investment life cycle. We are also at the vanguard of sustainability engagement in the industry by influencing company activity at board and committee level.

Flexible investment structure

Through our dedicated asset class expertise, we provide co-mingled funds, segregated and managed accounts.

How we invest

We primarily pursue two investment strategies:

Core Strategy

The Core strategy holds highly stable infrastructure assets with investment characterised by lower volatility and predictably high-single digit returns (a large proportion of which is derived from cash dividends). These investments tend to be uncorrelated to GDP and provide a measure of inflation protection.

Core+ Strategy

The Core + Strategy targets assets and businesses with more variable cashflows than their Core counterparts and returns that may be linked to GDP. These opportunities tend to generate reasonably assured returns with moderate levels of volatility. We also pursue opportunities which could be described as ‘Build to Core’.

Risk management

Among the various means by which we manage risk across our investments, influencing and engaging with company leaderships remains one of the most effective. By taking long-term, governance-level positions in companies, we are able to engage with managements and exert influence in coalition with fellow shareholders. From this long-term investor vantage point, we can evaluate risk holistically and deliver tangible change.

Investment philosophy & process

By remaining focused on largely UK-based investments, we have established relationships that we leverage to gain insight into opportunities and manage risk across the sector. We target opportunities with the potential to deliver high inflation linkage, defensive downside protection and a resilient cash yield. As a responsible investor, we have a strong emphasis on robust governance and client alignment.

Our portfolio

We are focused on creating diversified infrastructure portfolios for clients in high quality businesses and assets, seeking to deliver attractive risk adjusted returns.

Investments are considered across multiple sectors and geographies including the UK, Europe, North America and selected other OECD jurisdictions.

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Ports

Associated British Ports

Associated British Ports (‘ABP’) is the UK’s leading port group, owning and operating 21 ports in England, Scotland and Wales. ABP plays an essential role at the heart of the UK economy, supporting around 120,000 jobs and contributing £7.5 bn to the economy every year. Together with its customers, ABP handles around £150 bn of UK trade annually, with £40 bn of UK exports passing through the Port of Southampton, making it the UK’s number one export port.

ABP is a high quality infrastructure business that operates under a landlord port model that delivers long term stable cash flows. The business is well positioned to capitalise on the UK’s green energy transition and has committed to net zero emissions of its own operations by 2040. ABP is already one of the largest corporate producers of solar energy and has a pipeline of projects to facilitate floating offshore wind and sustainable fuels amongst other opportunities.

Managed stake: 6.1%

Acquired: 2015

Gas distribution network

Cadent Gas

Cadent is the largest distributor of gas in the UK, owning and operating four of the eight regulated gas distribution networks (‘GDN’s’), supplying gas to domestic, commercial and industrial premises across the UK. The assets are critical to the UK’s energy infrastructure, with 131,000km of pipelines across the UK, providing gas to c.11 million consumers.

Cadent benefits from stable, inflation-linked recurring cash flows as part of its regulated model. Cadent can play an instrumental role in the UK’s energy transition and is at the forefront of hydrogen developments, participating in hydrogen and hydrogen blending initiatives.

Managed stake: 13.6%

Acquired: 2017, 2019

Gas distribution network

Highspeed rail services

Eurostar

Eurostar is one of Europe’s leading international high speed rail operators with a fleet of 51 trainsets, transporting over 18million passengers. It is the sole operator of the cross-Channel route and in 2022 merged with pan-European train operator Thalys to form the Eurostar Group. With its unique fleet, it now operates services connecting 4 European countries; UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Eurostar’s ambition is to be the lowest carbon form of international travel and is well positioned to meet the growing demand for sustainable travel.

Managed stake: 6.4%

Acquired: 2015

Train on the 4th platform

Wind energy generation

Fallago Rig

Fallago Rig is an onshore wind farm with 48 turbines and 144 megawatts of generation capacity. Located 35km south-east of Edinburgh, Scotland in a remote part of the Scottish Borders, Fallago Rig’s capacity to produce clean energy is estimated at 445,800 megawatt hours of electricity per annum, which could displace approximately 190,000tn of CO2 each year. Fallago Rig has the capacity to provide about 90,000 typical UK households with power each year.

Fallago Rig has predictable inflation linked cashflows, generated in a stable, transparent and supportive regulatory environment through its participation in the Renewables Obligation Certificate (‘ROC’) regime.

Managed stake: 80%

Acquired: 2013

Social infrastructure

Innisfree Funds

We are invested in two social infrastructure funds managed by Innisfree. These are PPP and PFI funds managing social infrastructure concessions, such as transport, schools and hospitals, primarily across the UK.

Social infrastructure

Toll-roads

Iridium Hermes Roads

Iridium Hermes Roads operates six shadow toll roads (the ‘Roads’) located in five different regions of Spain. With a combined network of 233 km, this represents one of the largest privately owned toll road portfolios in Spain.

The Roads operate under shadow toll regimes meaning that pricing terms are pre-agreed. Revenues are paid by local governments and as such, revenues are protected from road user price elasticity of demand.

Managed stake: 74%

Acquired: 2020

Toll-roads

Ferry services

Scandlines

Scandlines operates two short-distance, high frequency ferry routes between Germany and Denmark (Rodby-Puttgarden and Gedser-Rostock) providing critical transport links between Scandinavia and Germany and the rest of Continental Europe. Fully integrated into the road infrastructure, the company’s seven ferries (six of which are hybrid) provide efficient and reliable transportation services to the leisure and freight markets, transporting approximately six million passengers and 750 thousand freight units per annum. It also owns and manages one of the world’s largest floating border shop in its Puttgarden harbour.

Scandlines has reduced emissions per trip by around a third since 2008, and has set ambitious net zero direct emissions targets by 2040, which it aims to meet through further electrification of its fleet. A new, fully electric ferry, is expected to become operational in 2024.

Managed stake: 14.9%

Acquired: 2018

Ferry services

Water utility

Southern Water

Southern Water operates the seventh largest water supply and sewerage company in England and Wales. It supplies drinking water to almost one million households and treats and recycles wastewater from nearly two million households, operating in Southern England.

Managed stake: 3.8%

Acquired: 2007

Water utility

Water utility

Thames Water

Thames Water is the UK’s largest provider of water and sewerage services in the UK serving over 14 million customers in the London and Greater London area. It operates across the entire water and sewerage spectrum comprising raw water storage, water treatment and supply, distribution sewerage, sewerage treatment and sludge disposal plants and 349 sewage treatment works within the business.

Managed stake: 8.7%

Acquired: 2013

Water utility

Wind energy generation

Ventus

Ventus is an 813 megawatt (MW) portfolio of five onshore wind farms located in Northern Sweden.
Ventus’ capacity to produce clean energy is estimated at 2,592,000 megawatt hours of electricity per annum which could displace approximately 18,000 tn of CO2 each year in Sweden. Ventus has the capacity to provide about 300,000 typical Swedish households with power each year.

Managed stake: 20%

Acquired: 2019, 2020

Wind energy generation

Energy from waste

Viridor

Viridor is a UK leading energy from waste (‘EfW’) and plastics recycling company owning and operating 11 EfW sites and 2 plastic recycling facilities across the UK. Revenues are underpinned by long-term gate fee contracts typically with local authorities and commercial and industrial counterparties.

Viridor is well-positioned to benefit from the dynamic transition to a sustainable circular economy where its business model is supported by government policy.

Managed stake: 9.5%

Acquired: 2020

Energy from waste

The above information does not constitute a solicitation or offer to any person to buy or sell any related securities or financial instruments. It should not be assumed that the above securities were or will be profitable. A list of all purchases and sales is available upon request. References to future expectations cannot be guaranteed. The above information is at 30 September 2023.

Who we are

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Closely connected for enhanced outcomes

Heritage and track record​

We have been connecting clients to Private Markets opportunities since our first real estate investment in 1983.​

Client-centric investing​

We’re passionate about connecting clients to innovative investment solutions that seek to deliver financial, as well as social and environmental returns.​

Access to high-quality investment opportunities​

Our 40+ year track record is driven by a mindset of building and nurturing long lasting relationships that deliver outcomes.​

Enhanced outcomes and portfolio diversification

We believe our experience, deep networks and partnership approach enable us to get clients closer to the opportunities in Private Markets – because we are.

Uncover the real potential
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Connect with us to find out more:

Stefan Arneth CFA

Director, Private Markets (DACH)