Private Infrastructure Equity: The Overlooked Middle Market
Mina Pacheco Nazemi, Head of Diversified Alternative Equity, joins the podcast to explain how she and her team are finding attractive opportunities to “build to core” in assets like battery storage and data centers.
Transcript
Kind: captions
Language: en
00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.270
infrastructure investing has seen a
00:00:02.280 --> 00:00:04.590
surge in recent years both on the equity
00:00:04.600 --> 00:00:07.110
and debt sides as investors have come to
00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.990
appreciate the many benefits of the
00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.350
asset class which include attractive
00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:14.270
yields and inflation protection among
00:00:14.280 --> 00:00:16.430
many others despite this growing
00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:19.230
popularity misconceptions still exist
00:00:19.240 --> 00:00:21.310
and investors may actually be ignoring
00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:23.310
some of the most attractive parts of
00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:25.630
this Market we're seeing the biggest
00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:27.269
opportunity in that small lower end of
00:00:27.279 --> 00:00:29.349
the market if you look at the statistics
00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.190
80% of the capital being raised is in
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:35.030
funds that are above a billion 70% of
00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:36.549
the capital being raised is just with
00:00:36.559 --> 00:00:39.350
five different platforms so we like
00:00:39.360 --> 00:00:41.830
investing in opportunities that are too
00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:43.709
small for those bigger platforms to
00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:45.549
invest in so think about distributed
00:00:45.559 --> 00:00:48.630
assets like battery storage think about
00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:51.790
small scale um data centers and
00:00:51.800 --> 00:00:54.470
therefore those projects are way too
00:00:54.480 --> 00:00:56.549
small for those larger platforms to
00:00:56.559 --> 00:00:58.670
invest in and this is the opportunity
00:00:58.680 --> 00:01:01.189
that we think is over looked
00:01:01.199 --> 00:01:03.189
underappreciated and where we see the
00:01:03.199 --> 00:01:05.990
best opportunity for our investors today
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.109
that was Mina Pacho nmi and this is
00:01:09.119 --> 00:01:11.870
streaming income a podcast from bearings
00:01:11.880 --> 00:01:14.270
I'm your host Greg Campion coming up on
00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:17.149
the show Private infostructure Equity
00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:19.550
the overlooked Middle Market before we
00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:21.390
get into the conversation if you're not
00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:22.749
already following us and you're
00:01:22.759 --> 00:01:24.350
interested in hearing our latest
00:01:24.360 --> 00:01:26.190
thoughts on asset classes like high
00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:29.149
yield private credit real estate and
00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:32.469
more just search streaming income on
00:01:32.479 --> 00:01:35.230
Apple podcasts Spotify YouTube or
00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:37.550
wherever you get your podcast with that
00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:46.270
here's my conversation with Mina Pacho
00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:48.469
Nai all right Mina welcome to the
00:01:48.479 --> 00:01:50.310
podcast thank you thank you for having
00:01:50.320 --> 00:01:52.389
me excited to have you it's been a
00:01:52.399 --> 00:01:53.870
little while since we've had you on the
00:01:53.880 --> 00:01:56.029
show so yeah we've been working on good
00:01:56.039 --> 00:01:57.789
stuff so we're excited to be here
00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.109
awesome cool well uh for our our
00:02:00.119 --> 00:02:02.550
listeners who may uh not be familiar
00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.709
with you or have heard prior episodes
00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:06.749
can you talk a little bit about um Your
00:02:06.759 --> 00:02:08.469
Role at bearings and the group you had
00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:11.470
up maybe to start out yeah so um I run
00:02:11.480 --> 00:02:13.869
the Diversified alternative Equity team
00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:16.390
uh we invest in both private equity and
00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.670
infrastructure Equity we tend to focus
00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:20.589
on the small lower end of the market to
00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.830
help um our clients get access to kind
00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.470
of Niche strategies in both private
00:02:26.480 --> 00:02:27.949
equity and infrastructure and I know
00:02:27.959 --> 00:02:28.990
we're here to talk more on the
00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.550
infrastructure side today MH awesome
00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:33.750
awesome yeah and your team puts out a
00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:35.550
lot of great work too so anything we
00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:37.150
talk about today chances are there's
00:02:37.160 --> 00:02:39.270
something on bars.com that people can go
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.830
check out so yeah let's dive in so we're
00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:41.790
going to talk about private
00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:44.070
infrastructure Equity today I mentioned
00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:46.309
in the intro that um you know we're
00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.470
seeing just a real growing popularity
00:02:49.480 --> 00:02:51.149
investing in infrastructure I think
00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:53.710
broadly speaking both on the uh Equity
00:02:53.720 --> 00:02:55.589
side and on the dead side I think
00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:57.390
there's a number of reasons behind that
00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.229
and of course you have all these kind of
00:02:59.239 --> 00:03:01.990
big struct structal trends like the boom
00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.750
in AI the the growing focus on climate
00:03:04.760 --> 00:03:07.910
and sustainability um Etc now your team
00:03:07.920 --> 00:03:10.229
is very much involved in investing
00:03:10.239 --> 00:03:13.550
across several different verticals I
00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.149
would say so digital infrastructure
00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:18.630
energy transition Transportation
00:03:18.640 --> 00:03:21.789
mobility and circular economy um to name
00:03:21.799 --> 00:03:24.350
a few of them so I'd like to talk about
00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:25.830
some of the Investments and some of the
00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.190
opportunities that you all see in those
00:03:28.200 --> 00:03:30.589
areas but maybe just to start as you
00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:33.390
look across all these different areas be
00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:34.550
interesting to hear you talk about what
00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.190
are the common elements that you see
00:03:37.200 --> 00:03:39.110
that are appealing from an investment
00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:41.470
standpoint yeah so it's a it's a great
00:03:41.480 --> 00:03:42.869
question especially for investors who
00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:44.309
are new to the asset class and are
00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:45.990
starting to build that allocation
00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.190
infrastructure Equity into into their
00:03:48.200 --> 00:03:50.509
portfolio from a top level down from a
00:03:50.519 --> 00:03:53.309
CIO level down view the way we think
00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:55.830
about it and how we think this is a good
00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.309
allocation into your portfolio is
00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:00.149
candidly we're starting with it a great
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.149
diversifier it's a great diversifier
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:05.789
given um you're most likely to have much
00:04:05.799 --> 00:04:08.229
uh corporate exposure corporate credit
00:04:08.239 --> 00:04:10.229
corporate Equity type exposure across
00:04:10.239 --> 00:04:13.069
your portfolio and as you mentioned um
00:04:13.079 --> 00:04:14.589
we're investing in a real asset so you
00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:16.590
have a hard asset it could be digital
00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:19.749
fiber it could be uh Edge Computing uh
00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.950
data centers it could be battery storage
00:04:22.960 --> 00:04:24.909
so the fact that you are diversifying
00:04:24.919 --> 00:04:27.590
with a hard asset um and a
00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:29.950
differentiated asset is is I would say
00:04:29.960 --> 00:04:33.230
number one two is uh the fact that we're
00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:36.390
investing in these assets where there's
00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:38.830
uh contracted revenues um so most of
00:04:38.840 --> 00:04:40.270
these businesses have contracted
00:04:40.280 --> 00:04:42.909
revenues you have the fact that you can
00:04:42.919 --> 00:04:45.550
foresee your cash flows um you have
00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:47.790
inflation escalators so it's really
00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:49.990
great uh as a kind of a downside
00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.629
protection for your portfolio uh where
00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:55.230
you're investing in these assets with
00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:58.110
predictable cash flows in assets that
00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.469
are frankly necessary you you need to
00:05:00.479 --> 00:05:02.710
have your your internet your your
00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:04.749
infrastructure there for your businesses
00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:07.830
for your home um and then the fact that
00:05:07.840 --> 00:05:09.749
you are also getting some potential
00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.749
upside and we can talk more about how
00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:14.430
our investments all have this kind of
00:05:14.440 --> 00:05:16.749
downside scenaria where you're going to
00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:18.350
get a steady cash flow but there's
00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:21.110
upside potential in those business
00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.270
models so um so one is like I mentioned
00:05:24.280 --> 00:05:26.029
in the beginning so you have that as a
00:05:26.039 --> 00:05:28.590
diversifier you have great assets
00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:31.629
contracted revenues inflation protection
00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:34.230
and the fact that it has the Tailwinds
00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:36.070
as you reference in your introduction
00:05:36.080 --> 00:05:39.110
right um we have a growing need for
00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:40.590
assets to help us in the energy
00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.029
transition we have a growing need given
00:05:43.039 --> 00:05:45.189
um everything going on with AI or even
00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:47.189
without AI just you know more and more
00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:49.749
demands for data um and not having a lot
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:51.710
of latency in terms of having in your
00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.990
service so um information is is easily
00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.350
accessible and you can you can do what
00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:58.629
you need to do from a business
00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.270
perspective and you can sit at home and
00:06:00.280 --> 00:06:02.469
and watch all those shows on
00:06:02.479 --> 00:06:04.550
Netflix that's what it's all about it's
00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:07.870
all about backbone to support our
00:06:07.880 --> 00:06:11.029
consumption habits absolutely absolutely
00:06:11.039 --> 00:06:14.790
now you mentioned uh this idea that like
00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.230
uh there's this kind of inherent
00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.029
downside protection I guess with regards
00:06:20.039 --> 00:06:22.550
to investing in these asset classes that
00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:27.670
are backed by hard assets but also with
00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:29.749
you know upside potential for Capital
00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:31.670
appreciation tell me a little bit more
00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:33.390
about that capital appreciation side of
00:06:33.400 --> 00:06:34.990
things because I think that maybe is a
00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:38.309
little bit different than what you or
00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.029
some would historically think about from
00:06:41.039 --> 00:06:42.990
infrastructure right it's like seen as
00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:46.749
this like steady quasi boring asset
00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:49.150
class like right is that changing I
00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:51.150
guess is the question maybe the best way
00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:53.550
to think about it is uh within the
00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:56.950
spectrum of infrastructure we are
00:06:56.960 --> 00:06:59.869
tending to be in that value ad an
00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:01.909
opportunistic side so very similar to
00:07:01.919 --> 00:07:03.589
real estate you have your you can have
00:07:03.599 --> 00:07:07.830
an infrastructure core core Plus value
00:07:07.840 --> 00:07:10.830
at and opportunistic so you're right um
00:07:10.840 --> 00:07:12.430
infrastructure the boring what we call
00:07:12.440 --> 00:07:15.270
infrastructure 1.0 so your toll roads
00:07:15.280 --> 00:07:18.550
your airports um your standard Fair your
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.270
large scale utility is really in that
00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:23.670
like what we what we call the core core
00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.390
Plus so infrastructure 1.0 Y where we
00:07:26.400 --> 00:07:28.909
see the biggest opportunity is in that
00:07:28.919 --> 00:07:31.270
value ad in that opportunistic so to
00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:35.110
your point you have you have elements of
00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.029
um that Baseline cash flow but you have
00:07:38.039 --> 00:07:39.510
the ability to have the capital
00:07:39.520 --> 00:07:41.749
appreciation because there may be
00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:43.270
additional projects that we can bring
00:07:43.280 --> 00:07:45.149
online so I'll just give you a quick
00:07:45.159 --> 00:07:47.550
example um we invested in a battery
00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:50.350
storage project uh about 30 megawatt in
00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:53.469
Texas um three you know um it would say
00:07:53.479 --> 00:07:55.670
small sale battery storage uh projects
00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:57.749
but when we made the investment we could
00:07:57.759 --> 00:07:59.990
see the contracted revenues
00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.749
um we saw the opportunity with those
00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:04.510
three assets but we also had a pipeline
00:08:04.520 --> 00:08:07.469
for 12 additional assets and therefore
00:08:07.479 --> 00:08:09.990
uh we were investing in the potential to
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.990
develop those additional 12 assets so
00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.309
that is added um added Alpha in terms of
00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:18.629
as you you have your Baseline returns
00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:20.390
from those three initial projects and
00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:21.950
then you get that added Alpha as we
00:08:21.960 --> 00:08:24.629
bring those 12 projects online as we
00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:29.189
underwrite that um there's there is um
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.070
there is that ability to foresee a
00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.469
baseline return and um and then we are
00:08:35.479 --> 00:08:37.589
just taking exe we're taking execution
00:08:37.599 --> 00:08:39.949
risk on generating another three four
00:08:39.959 --> 00:08:43.469
five 600 basis points more as we bring
00:08:43.479 --> 00:08:46.030
additional projects online and what
00:08:46.040 --> 00:08:48.230
we're seeing in the market is given all
00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.190
the capital that's been raised with the
00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:53.230
larger platforms there's a thirst and a
00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:56.910
demand for great platforms um and
00:08:56.920 --> 00:08:59.110
they're they're really interested in in
00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:00.870
buying up these different projects and
00:09:00.880 --> 00:09:02.910
platforms that we've been building kind
00:09:02.920 --> 00:09:06.310
of from the ground up okay okay so now
00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.870
in terms of returns and and obviously
00:09:08.880 --> 00:09:10.509
you know for compliance reasons and
00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:12.069
other reasons we don't really want to
00:09:12.079 --> 00:09:14.350
get super specific on right you know
00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:16.110
return expectations Etc but like it
00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:18.470
would be interesting just to hear so you
00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:19.949
made this distinction between
00:09:19.959 --> 00:09:22.470
infrastructure 1.0 and infrastructure
00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:26.150
2.0 is there a way or is there a way to
00:09:26.160 --> 00:09:29.670
wrap your arms around like targeted that
00:09:29.680 --> 00:09:31.710
targeted return potential between those
00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:34.269
two might differ or are the asset
00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:36.190
classes or sub asset classes too
00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:39.350
disparate to like generalize that yeah
00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:42.550
no I mean the the data is there in terms
00:09:42.560 --> 00:09:44.590
of where core and core Plus has been uh
00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:48.110
core core Plus has been in that four to
00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:51.870
six maybe seven um percent range um so
00:09:51.880 --> 00:09:54.470
that's like investment grade equivalent
00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.069
it's basically investment grade I mean
00:09:56.079 --> 00:09:58.990
and and our view candidly on that is if
00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.269
if you're going to be generating let's
00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.630
call it a six or let's be generous a six
00:10:03.640 --> 00:10:06.990
or 7% return on the core core Plus and
00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:08.670
um infra Equity you might as well just
00:10:08.680 --> 00:10:11.150
do the infr debt right and you're um and
00:10:11.160 --> 00:10:13.389
you're at the top of the stack as we
00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:15.190
think about infrastructure equity in
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.550
that core Plus value ad and what we we
00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:21.350
call our infrastructure 2.0 you can
00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:23.190
basically be getting private Equity like
00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.910
return so you can be getting 14% to an
00:10:26.920 --> 00:10:29.870
18 19% um depending depending on the
00:10:29.880 --> 00:10:32.269
project depending on the
00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:34.389
jurisdiction um and also depending on
00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.670
timing right we've had great um Demand
00:10:36.680 --> 00:10:41.269
on um on having kind of dark b um and
00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.150
just general data data centers and
00:10:44.160 --> 00:10:46.430
availability um and so there's just been
00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:48.230
a lot of demand AWS has been buying a
00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:50.230
lot of those types of assets so you then
00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.230
you can see that um you can get on the
00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.269
higher end of that Spectrum so we like
00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:57.910
it we like it especially as um for
00:10:57.920 --> 00:10:59.990
insurance investors who know that they
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.990
have to get an RBC charge um so you can
00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.190
basically be getting private Equity like
00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.790
returns with the infrastructure profile
00:11:07.800 --> 00:11:09.430
and with having some of that downside
00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.910
that I talked about earlier okay and I
00:11:11.920 --> 00:11:13.949
will just make a disclaimer here to say
00:11:13.959 --> 00:11:15.430
that these are targeted returns that
00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.790
we're talking about not guaranteeing
00:11:17.800 --> 00:11:19.829
returns yes past performance is no
00:11:19.839 --> 00:11:24.110
guarantee of future etc etc um okay so
00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:26.030
one of the things that you kind of
00:11:26.040 --> 00:11:28.430
alluded to there was uh what's going on
00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:31.110
in terms of the fun raising environment
00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.190
here so I mentioned up front you know
00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:35.829
we're seeing increased interest um and
00:11:35.839 --> 00:11:38.629
and a lot of demand obviously for
00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:40.350
infrastructure assets so you're seeing
00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.590
all kinds of infrastructure deals all
00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:46.030
kinds of uh mechanisms for financing
00:11:46.040 --> 00:11:48.750
them but what are you broadly seeing as
00:11:48.760 --> 00:11:50.509
you look out there and you know you're
00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:51.910
out there talking to investors what are
00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:53.430
you broadly seeing in terms of the
00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.750
fundraising landscape today it's highly
00:11:56.760 --> 00:11:59.350
concentrated so if you look at
00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:01.230
fundraising in the last call it five
00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:03.910
years 80% of the capital going into
00:12:03.920 --> 00:12:06.150
infrastructure has been going to Billion
00:12:06.160 --> 00:12:08.790
Dollar Plus business or funds and
00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:11.870
actually if you look at the last couple
00:12:11.880 --> 00:12:15.269
years about 70% of the capital raise has
00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:19.590
gone to five firms so um as a person
00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.629
who's been investing for over 20 years
00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:23.389
I've learned that following the herd is
00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:26.710
not a way to generate returns and so
00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:29.189
where we tend to be is in that um
00:12:29.199 --> 00:12:31.790
smaller segment of the market and what
00:12:31.800 --> 00:12:35.910
we love is we're buying building assets
00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:38.069
and we're basically selling it Upstream
00:12:38.079 --> 00:12:39.710
to some of these platforms where they
00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:41.189
have a lower cost of capital they've
00:12:41.199 --> 00:12:43.750
raised 2030 billion dollar they need to
00:12:43.760 --> 00:12:45.949
put their Capital to work and they need
00:12:45.959 --> 00:12:47.590
to put their Capital to work in these
00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.629
strategies around the energy transition
00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:52.069
they need to put their Capital to work
00:12:52.079 --> 00:12:54.629
recognizing um all the demands for power
00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:58.189
and energy so um that's how we see the
00:12:58.199 --> 00:13:00.870
market um we've always seen them we've
00:13:00.880 --> 00:13:02.389
always focused on that small lower end
00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.069
of the market as I referenced in our
00:13:04.079 --> 00:13:06.189
introduction on the private Equity side
00:13:06.199 --> 00:13:08.509
and very similarly on the infrastructure
00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.069
side and that's where you can be Niche
00:13:11.079 --> 00:13:13.829
and you can be nimble and and candidly
00:13:13.839 --> 00:13:15.910
just take advantage of just the flows of
00:13:15.920 --> 00:13:18.269
capital and take advantage of just all
00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:19.990
that Capital that's sitting out there
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.750
with these bigger platforms um and
00:13:22.760 --> 00:13:24.590
basically provide them and give them
00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:26.990
access to an investment where they can
00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.710
deploy uh Capital um on on their end so
00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.230
we love that um we love that and seeing
00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:35.310
that imbalance the other thing that we
00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:37.629
do is not only are we directly investing
00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:41.189
in assets uh but we also do invest in
00:13:41.199 --> 00:13:43.509
managers so we spend you know teams that
00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:47.230
have spun out so um it that imbalance
00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:50.749
also enables us to um really be
00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:53.110
meaningful with these smaller newer
00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.910
emerging managers uh provide them with
00:13:55.920 --> 00:13:59.269
that Capital to um start out their firms
00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.590
and um get some preferred economics
00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.829
angry economics um which really accretes
00:14:04.839 --> 00:14:07.069
to the bottom line and um accretes to
00:14:07.079 --> 00:14:08.790
our investors let me just follow up on
00:14:08.800 --> 00:14:10.590
that because some of those stats you
00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:13.870
threw out there are pretty uh astounding
00:14:13.880 --> 00:14:17.230
in some ways I would say so so basically
00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:18.470
uh my understanding of what you're
00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.350
saying is heavily concentrated you
00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:22.870
seeing these kind of you know large or
00:14:22.880 --> 00:14:26.350
Mega funds uh raising almost all of the
00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:28.790
capital Did you say in the last is in
00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:32.150
the last last few years the top five
00:14:32.160 --> 00:14:34.910
managers have been like 70% of okay wow
00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:36.550
so that's super concentrated super
00:14:36.560 --> 00:14:38.350
concentrated and of course these these
00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:41.590
names have multiple products but I mean
00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.710
the fact that you know you have that con
00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:46.590
you know that manager concentration of
00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:51.389
five different managers being 70% of the
00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:54.230
allocations is it's really astounding
00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.749
right and look we saw that Dynamic 20 25
00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:00.110
years ago in the private Equity side and
00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:02.310
we've um in my career we've taken
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.749
advantage of those opportunity sets and
00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:06.790
there are teams that are spinning out of
00:15:06.800 --> 00:15:08.910
these platforms so there there are these
00:15:08.920 --> 00:15:11.189
teams who have the experience who are
00:15:11.199 --> 00:15:13.910
spining out of these platforms and we
00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:16.310
are backing them and we are backing them
00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:19.189
and we're helping them um providing them
00:15:19.199 --> 00:15:21.590
with the capital um so that they can
00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.150
continue to do what they've done and
00:15:23.160 --> 00:15:24.910
what they've done for many years in
00:15:24.920 --> 00:15:27.629
their in their career and as I describe
00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:29.509
have them help them get back to Basics
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.749
so these platforms that I referenc
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:34.069
started out not raising $20 billion
00:15:34.079 --> 00:15:35.710
funds they started out by raising
00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:37.550
smaller funds and they had a lot of
00:15:37.560 --> 00:15:40.430
successes and through those successes
00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:42.990
they've gotten much bigger so when we're
00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:45.189
identifying individuals and teams to
00:15:45.199 --> 00:15:48.389
spend out those are teams who are saying
00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:50.629
look I don't want to deploy multiple
00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:52.990
billion dollars in a specific project I
00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:55.110
want to go back to basics in what I was
00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:57.670
doing 10 years ago and doing smaller
00:15:57.680 --> 00:16:00.150
smaller scale projects doesn't require
00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:02.389
all that capital and they're they're
00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:04.030
betting on their careers and that's what
00:16:04.040 --> 00:16:06.189
we that's what we do we like to bet on
00:16:06.199 --> 00:16:09.150
people um and having that alignment with
00:16:09.160 --> 00:16:14.309
them um where their success um is is is
00:16:14.319 --> 00:16:16.670
critical um for their careers there's
00:16:16.680 --> 00:16:20.829
not there's no fall back for them and um
00:16:20.839 --> 00:16:24.470
and we're and that's the type of um you
00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:26.389
know partnership that we look for um
00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:28.230
with our managers yeah yeah that that's
00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.150
really interesting how the the the sort
00:16:31.160 --> 00:16:32.829
of two parts of your business are kind
00:16:32.839 --> 00:16:34.870
of complimenting each other there where
00:16:34.880 --> 00:16:36.910
you have like the the direct Investments
00:16:36.920 --> 00:16:39.949
and some of these assets and then um the
00:16:39.959 --> 00:16:41.350
dynamic you just described you and I
00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:42.870
have talked about emerging managers on
00:16:42.880 --> 00:16:45.509
this podcast before and I think you and
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:47.550
your team have all sorts of data that
00:16:47.560 --> 00:16:50.470
shows that you know historically what
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:52.309
you've seen is like the performance of
00:16:52.319 --> 00:16:55.309
fund one two three tends to be on
00:16:55.319 --> 00:16:58.230
average much stronger than later funds
00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:01.910
as funds get bigger etc etc so um yeah
00:17:01.920 --> 00:17:04.270
sorry yeah no and I and I think it's
00:17:04.280 --> 00:17:07.829
even um in we have one of our white
00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:10.270
papers that also shows that data as well
00:17:10.280 --> 00:17:12.789
we've we've done that for infrastructure
00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.309
as well and it's even more a sounding
00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:18.110
and that kind of fund four plus to your
00:17:18.120 --> 00:17:21.029
point you see most of the performance
00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.590
really in the middle right like just
00:17:23.600 --> 00:17:26.630
hovering in that median return versus if
00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:30.070
you look at earlier um in the cycle for
00:17:30.080 --> 00:17:31.789
the fund One Fund twos fund threes you
00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:34.310
tend to see more first and second
00:17:34.320 --> 00:17:37.510
quartile maybe I should also add um just
00:17:37.520 --> 00:17:39.669
part of our toolkit right we're we're
00:17:39.679 --> 00:17:42.510
directly investing in assets um we're
00:17:42.520 --> 00:17:45.270
investing in managers but we also have
00:17:45.280 --> 00:17:48.310
more of a JB type structure um approach
00:17:48.320 --> 00:17:50.669
with some of our operating Partners in
00:17:50.679 --> 00:17:52.870
the strategy which is very Aken to and I
00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.270
would describe it to real estate where
00:17:55.280 --> 00:17:58.909
we may find you know great operating
00:17:58.919 --> 00:18:01.830
Partners who have experience who've been
00:18:01.840 --> 00:18:04.350
let's say in the power space for 15 20
00:18:04.360 --> 00:18:07.870
years um may have been successful with
00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:09.750
getting backed by a private Equity
00:18:09.760 --> 00:18:11.830
infrastructure fund and we're very
00:18:11.840 --> 00:18:13.430
comfortable working directly with those
00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.350
operating Partners in a JV type
00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:18.950
structure model um and and backing them
00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:21.830
in in you know a certain you know as
00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:23.549
they've identified a platform or project
00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:25.310
that they want to pursue within within
00:18:25.320 --> 00:18:28.870
their sector expertise Okay cool so um
00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:30.070
let's let's talk about a couple of
00:18:30.080 --> 00:18:32.510
specific examples because uh I want to
00:18:32.520 --> 00:18:33.750
understand this Dynamic a little more
00:18:33.760 --> 00:18:36.470
just so so my understanding based on at
00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.870
least part of um what you're saying
00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:41.470
around the fundraising environment is
00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.430
that you've got these Mega funds out
00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:46.110
there who have raised the vast majority
00:18:46.120 --> 00:18:49.470
of capital in this asset class they
00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:51.630
therefore have a massive amount of
00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:54.630
capital to deploy in the asset class
00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:56.149
therefore and we've seen this in some
00:18:56.159 --> 00:18:58.350
other asset classes as well um like
00:18:58.360 --> 00:19:01.669
Direct lending they they are obviously
00:19:01.679 --> 00:19:03.950
much more incentivized to go after the
00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:05.909
much bigger projects right much bigger
00:19:05.919 --> 00:19:08.230
Deals they need to just put dollars to
00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.789
work and it just it's inefficient for
00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:13.190
them to do smaller Investments because
00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:14.750
they they they they can't have a
00:19:14.760 --> 00:19:16.789
portfolio of a hundred Investments if
00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.669
they have a$ 20 billion fund right and
00:19:18.679 --> 00:19:20.430
you would just need a massive team to do
00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:22.270
like the proper due diligence on all
00:19:22.280 --> 00:19:25.710
those deals so therefore and this is me
00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:27.870
kind of jumping to the conclusion but I
00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:29.230
think this is what the conclusion is
00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:31.710
therefore the lower and middle uh end of
00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:34.630
the market is uh a more kind of
00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.070
inefficient market and maybe there's
00:19:37.080 --> 00:19:38.549
more value there so talk a little bit
00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.630
more about that concept and then maybe
00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:42.070
if there's an example or two you can
00:19:42.080 --> 00:19:43.870
provide that kind of helps illustrate
00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:45.990
this that would be interesting what we
00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:47.710
do at the end of the day as I kind of
00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:49.630
even described with this kind of battery
00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:53.430
storage project is um I describe it as
00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.470
we're building to core so we're building
00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:59.909
assets we're you we're pursuing these
00:19:59.919 --> 00:20:04.470
projects such that we're creating um a
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.630
combined cash flow that can be sold
00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.430
Upstream to these bigger platforms as a
00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:13.190
core infrastructure because you have
00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:16.110
these contracted revenues so this is the
00:20:16.120 --> 00:20:18.110
one in Texas one Texas that we're
00:20:18.120 --> 00:20:20.430
talking about do this just support the
00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.590
overall kind of power grid or yeah it's
00:20:22.600 --> 00:20:24.270
support yeah exactly supporting the
00:20:24.280 --> 00:20:27.390
power grid but the the theme is the same
00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:30.350
across everything that we do we've done
00:20:30.360 --> 00:20:31.990
we've done Investments within the
00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.190
geothermal space we've done investments
00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:36.390
in digital fiber we have District
00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.909
Heating in the UK but the theme is still
00:20:39.919 --> 00:20:42.630
the same where we're building to core
00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.510
we're taking um um we're we're basically
00:20:46.520 --> 00:20:48.669
building assets that are small and
00:20:48.679 --> 00:20:51.190
modulized not as complex it's not like
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:53.470
we're building large scale utility right
00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.190
the fact that we're doing small small
00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:57.750
modalized where you're not taking
00:20:57.760 --> 00:20:59.549
technology risk you're really just
00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:01.990
taking construction risk but it's not as
00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:05.149
complex right putting together um one of
00:21:05.159 --> 00:21:07.230
these you know the permitting is not as
00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:09.909
complex as a large scale toll road right
00:21:09.919 --> 00:21:12.350
it's not as demanding right and not as
00:21:12.360 --> 00:21:14.870
uh there's a lot of conversations about
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.070
permitting and the the politics around
00:21:17.080 --> 00:21:20.230
getting these projects getting done so
00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:25.830
um we absolutely um love that dynamic
00:21:25.840 --> 00:21:28.590
because um what you see on the large
00:21:28.600 --> 00:21:31.950
larger scale projects is you are taking
00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:34.430
a lot of more regulatory risk you're
00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:38.430
taking on the impacts of weather really
00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.590
um can be um if you have a hurricane
00:21:41.600 --> 00:21:44.149
that hits in your large scale utility
00:21:44.159 --> 00:21:48.190
that impacts it but if you have um your
00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:51.310
your power being kind of stored in
00:21:51.320 --> 00:21:55.549
smaller modulized distributed in an MSA
00:21:55.559 --> 00:21:57.710
it's not you know if a hurricane hits
00:21:57.720 --> 00:21:59.789
it's not going to hit all of your assets
00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:03.390
at the same time so it Dr risks the
00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:06.710
investment just by the nature of how
00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:09.710
it's um it's distributed so we
00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:14.630
absolutely love that Dynamic there um so
00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.590
other maybe other kind of examples um
00:22:17.600 --> 00:22:20.190
can I just ask you what's what is MSA oh
00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:22.390
just a metropolitan you know the Metro
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.590
are yeah yeah yeah so within an MSA you
00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:27.230
know so the Charlotte you know Los
00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:29.390
Angeles or
00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:31.549
I like how you were describing some of
00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:33.830
these assets as being like smaller
00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:36.549
modular distributed and therefore
00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.190
they're almost like uh less exposed to
00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:41.029
some of these big risks whether it be
00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.149
climate or even flying under the radar
00:22:43.159 --> 00:22:45.350
to some degree with regards to you know
00:22:45.360 --> 00:22:48.029
regulatory risks and um even some of the
00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:49.909
red tape around permitting and stuff
00:22:49.919 --> 00:22:52.630
like that um that that's super
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.350
interesting is that I I know you um so
00:22:55.360 --> 00:22:57.510
so I mean that's the case I think that
00:22:57.520 --> 00:22:59.990
you described on the bad storage side is
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:02.630
that um kind of a broad-based trend and
00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.830
I know I'm I'm curious I think your team
00:23:04.840 --> 00:23:07.950
did a a data center a deal in
00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:10.110
Pennsylvania it' be interesting to hear
00:23:10.120 --> 00:23:12.269
about that one as well yeah it was a
00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:15.950
hyperscaler and um and look we made this
00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:19.669
investment um years before the AI a
00:23:19.679 --> 00:23:21.870
conversation was happening in terms of
00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:24.190
the demand for energy so we had a
00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:25.789
hyperscaler and then our source of
00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:29.630
energy was um a lowcost energy clean um
00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:32.510
provider and we saw that opportunity so
00:23:32.520 --> 00:23:34.269
we saw the opportunity with the fact
00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:37.029
that you had that um the hyperscaler and
00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.710
then you had your your energy source and
00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:42.750
we thought there was value um so going
00:23:42.760 --> 00:23:44.870
back to the comment I made earlier right
00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:48.590
there is value in those two hard assets
00:23:48.600 --> 00:23:50.549
um we um understood the kind of the
00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:52.110
contracts um related to those
00:23:52.120 --> 00:23:54.909
hyperscalers but we saw the upside with
00:23:54.919 --> 00:23:57.909
them um because we we're I'm not going
00:23:57.919 --> 00:24:00.710
to say we we foresaw this you know
00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:03.710
Euphoria around AI but we knew that
00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:05.310
there was just going to continue to be
00:24:05.320 --> 00:24:07.029
more and more demand for energy right
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:08.590
and if you think about what happened
00:24:08.600 --> 00:24:11.710
with um Bitcoin over these years right
00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.909
you you need to have the energy um the
00:24:14.919 --> 00:24:17.230
power to to run all the computers and do
00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:21.470
and do your um and do what you do as as
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:26.350
a minor so that is um an example of
00:24:26.360 --> 00:24:28.789
where we sold that Upstream we sold that
00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:32.230
to pick pick one of your five fangs um
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:35.510
um and they they really like the asset
00:24:35.520 --> 00:24:38.350
and um and they and they were able to
00:24:38.360 --> 00:24:40.870
pay more and because they needed that
00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.389
and they wanted to secure their their
00:24:43.399 --> 00:24:45.549
power um and we're seeing that
00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:46.950
thematically we're seeing that
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.990
thematically we we have um um a dark
00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.510
fiber deal um in another large
00:24:53.520 --> 00:24:56.110
metropolitan area and I was just there
00:24:56.120 --> 00:24:59.269
earlier this week and um in that
00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:01.350
platform again one of I'll just describe
00:25:01.360 --> 00:25:03.230
it one of the fangs just said outright
00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:05.070
I'm going to buy 10% of your of your
00:25:05.080 --> 00:25:06.950
capacity of your fiber um in this
00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:09.430
Metropolitan because they are just
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:12.149
trying to lock in um think about it
00:25:12.159 --> 00:25:14.350
locking in their capacity locking in so
00:25:14.360 --> 00:25:17.549
that they can have um their their
00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:20.190
ability to do what they need to do as
00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:22.110
their business continues to grow as they
00:25:22.120 --> 00:25:24.870
become continue to double down and they
00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:27.750
also foresee the just continued need for
00:25:27.760 --> 00:25:31.230
power to to fuel all that data um that's
00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:33.830
flowing through their their system yeah
00:25:33.840 --> 00:25:35.389
it it almost like comes back to this
00:25:35.399 --> 00:25:38.350
idea of um the the lower and middle part
00:25:38.360 --> 00:25:39.470
of the market being like this
00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:41.149
inefficient part of the market that may
00:25:41.159 --> 00:25:44.389
not make sense for either the big Mega
00:25:44.399 --> 00:25:46.789
infrastructure funds to go down into and
00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:49.630
spend a lot of time on or like I think
00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:51.269
you're referencing here with some of the
00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:53.430
fangs and others like these more
00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:56.510
strategic buyers y they may not have the
00:25:56.520 --> 00:25:59.230
time or resources to be going asset by
00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:01.029
asset and creating these types of things
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.269
so I think one and it's necessary for
00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:05.590
their business right what happens if
00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:08.149
Amazon doesn't have access to power
00:26:08.159 --> 00:26:10.909
right what happens if Amazon doesn't or
00:26:10.919 --> 00:26:14.430
you know it it meta right so it's
00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:18.230
becoming so important and powerful and
00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:21.470
we've had this thesis um for over the
00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:23.470
last five seven years here on that's
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:26.710
just where the trajectory is um and so
00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:28.549
as you think about infrastructure being
00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:32.230
a critical um critical item right
00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:34.110
historically it's been okay do you have
00:26:34.120 --> 00:26:36.110
water do you know do you have a you know
00:26:36.120 --> 00:26:38.029
an electricity but electricity and power
00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:39.870
is just even becoming more important and
00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:42.029
digital is just an important component
00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:44.830
of that now thinking about the economics
00:26:44.840 --> 00:26:46.230
of some of these deals I know I've heard
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.590
you and the team talk uh in the past
00:26:48.600 --> 00:26:50.870
about kind of a valuation multiple
00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:53.070
Arbitrage so tell me a little bit more
00:26:53.080 --> 00:26:54.950
about that idea and what's going on
00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:58.230
there so the the buy versus build m
00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:01.029
multiple is how we think about it do you
00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:04.549
buy it um and we could see the multiples
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:07.470
that are getting um for what these
00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:09.389
assets are trading at okay I'm going to
00:27:09.399 --> 00:27:11.269
just pick a data center if picking data
00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:12.870
centers is where you're buying you could
00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:16.149
buy it at 20 times multiple or do you
00:27:16.159 --> 00:27:19.269
build it at the smaller scale at
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.310
significantly lower than that um and
00:27:22.320 --> 00:27:24.630
aggregate multiple projects multiple
00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:27.590
entities to basically as you aggregate
00:27:27.600 --> 00:27:30.389
it you can can get the dynamic of having
00:27:30.399 --> 00:27:32.909
a better buy you know you could get that
00:27:32.919 --> 00:27:36.190
multiple Arbitrage as um you sell it up
00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:39.669
Market okay so it's cheaper uh to build
00:27:39.679 --> 00:27:42.630
the assets at a small scale so that that
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.669
that build multiple is lower but then as
00:27:45.679 --> 00:27:47.509
you build more of these assets and you
00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:50.750
end up with something that is of scale
00:27:50.760 --> 00:27:52.310
and something that these bigger players
00:27:52.320 --> 00:27:53.590
are willing to pay up for that's where
00:27:53.600 --> 00:27:55.310
you see that Arbitrage absolutely and we
00:27:55.320 --> 00:27:57.149
don't underwrite for that Arbitrage to
00:27:57.159 --> 00:27:59.509
be clear in terms of how conservative we
00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:02.110
are but that that goes back to PO you
00:28:02.120 --> 00:28:06.029
know one of the components of the um the
00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:09.669
thetion that you can have um investing
00:28:09.679 --> 00:28:12.149
in this segment of of the market so it's
00:28:12.159 --> 00:28:13.870
not underwritten for it we'll we'll
00:28:13.880 --> 00:28:16.430
we'll take it when someone wants to pay
00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:19.950
2x the multiple that we built a specific
00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:22.750
format sure sure um okay I just want to
00:28:22.760 --> 00:28:26.110
ask you just in terms of sourcing deals
00:28:26.120 --> 00:28:28.909
um you know you mentioned
00:28:28.919 --> 00:28:31.310
relationships with various operating
00:28:31.320 --> 00:28:36.110
Partners um uh in other Partnerships
00:28:36.120 --> 00:28:37.590
just uh let's talk a little bit about
00:28:37.600 --> 00:28:38.710
that because I'd be interested
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:40.830
everything from like Texas battery
00:28:40.840 --> 00:28:42.990
storage to this hypers scale or data
00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:44.590
center like be interesting to hear like
00:28:44.600 --> 00:28:47.750
where some of these deals come from so
00:28:47.760 --> 00:28:50.190
as as um we've talked about in different
00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:52.669
podcasts before right we're we've
00:28:52.679 --> 00:28:54.950
exclusively been focused on always
00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:56.389
investing on the small lower end of the
00:28:56.399 --> 00:28:58.350
market right I mean we have a reputation
00:28:58.360 --> 00:29:01.070
as a firm as a team to really know how
00:29:01.080 --> 00:29:03.470
to invest um with smaller managers in
00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:05.830
the smaller segment of of the market
00:29:05.840 --> 00:29:08.830
because we've backed um some of these
00:29:08.840 --> 00:29:10.509
platforms that are now om megas we've
00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:13.269
know a lot of the individuals the teams
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:15.310
from over the years so there's that
00:29:15.320 --> 00:29:18.110
natural connectivity there but there's
00:29:18.120 --> 00:29:20.110
just uh there's just so much talent
00:29:20.120 --> 00:29:21.549
there's so much talent that's come out
00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:24.630
of even um you know your your
00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:26.470
traditional um they could have been
00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:28.669
someone who came out of the energy space
00:29:28.679 --> 00:29:30.669
right had worked at an energy company
00:29:30.679 --> 00:29:33.070
they know what they're doing um with one
00:29:33.080 --> 00:29:35.029
of our operating Partners was a you know
00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:38.509
three-time CEO um in the Telecom space
00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:42.190
and so we're exploring opportunities um
00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:44.830
with him um because he sees the market
00:29:44.840 --> 00:29:47.190
and obviously is a proven track record
00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:49.990
of um running businesses in in the
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:52.310
Telecom space so it's it's all of the
00:29:52.320 --> 00:29:54.750
above um look I always say my job is to
00:29:54.760 --> 00:29:57.350
look under every Rock um and look at
00:29:57.360 --> 00:29:58.789
every opportunity
00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:03.190
and and ensure that we have the broadest
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:05.870
funnel to see that we're making the best
00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:08.230
investments um within a given vintage
00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:10.149
year or a given you know couple vintage
00:30:10.159 --> 00:30:13.110
years and so having having that openness
00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:15.909
to look at everything uh really informs
00:30:15.919 --> 00:30:17.950
us I mean the other thing I'll just talk
00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:20.070
about I think is a big differentiator in
00:30:20.080 --> 00:30:23.310
what we do especially for investors um
00:30:23.320 --> 00:30:25.029
who are newer to the asset class they
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.590
really are drawn to the fact that um we
00:30:27.600 --> 00:30:28.509
have our
00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:30.789
we have our own set of what I call our
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.110
library of our kpis so what does that
00:30:33.120 --> 00:30:37.269
mean so um if you are um for all the
00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:40.070
different sectors we have our own data
00:30:40.080 --> 00:30:42.470
points and statistics on what are the
00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:44.549
specific Milestones or what are some of
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:47.590
the kpis of a business in the digital
00:30:47.600 --> 00:30:50.870
space or what it should be in um what
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:52.830
you know whatever in you know District
00:30:52.840 --> 00:30:56.310
heating so it's those that data point
00:30:56.320 --> 00:30:59.190
that helps us not only determine as new
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:01.509
opportunities come in is this a good
00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:03.389
business model is this a business that's
00:31:03.399 --> 00:31:05.470
going to be successful are they doing
00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:06.870
something different that's going to set
00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:09.789
them up for success and so we aggregate
00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:11.950
all of that we leverage our operating
00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:15.310
Partners we leverage our just managers
00:31:15.320 --> 00:31:19.310
that we've given Capital to to um really
00:31:19.320 --> 00:31:21.310
kind of help us determine as we're
00:31:21.320 --> 00:31:23.230
making those direct Investments if we're
00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:24.909
making those direct investments in
00:31:24.919 --> 00:31:27.430
assets um we've seen a ton of deals like
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:31.789
fiber the home um we've seen a lot of um
00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:35.190
uh transactions in the um School busing
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:37.590
which uh you know is a quasi
00:31:37.600 --> 00:31:39.629
infrastructure type deal so we even have
00:31:39.639 --> 00:31:41.629
statistics on what's been the driver
00:31:41.639 --> 00:31:45.470
turnover what's been um you know how
00:31:45.480 --> 00:31:47.430
much is the capex and how quick how
00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:49.629
often do you have to um change out your
00:31:49.639 --> 00:31:51.870
bus fleet so it's having those data
00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:54.990
points that when we see New Deals come
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:57.110
in we can evaluate and say well the last
00:31:57.120 --> 00:32:00.909
five deals this range of data um data
00:32:00.919 --> 00:32:02.950
points in terms of those kpis where does
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:05.750
this fit in and it just makes us better
00:32:05.760 --> 00:32:09.230
investors um and then for our partners
00:32:09.240 --> 00:32:11.629
um we provide them that feedback it's
00:32:11.639 --> 00:32:14.590
like we we like you we like your deal
00:32:14.600 --> 00:32:18.070
but um the kpis for your business or
00:32:18.080 --> 00:32:21.070
your your expectations or your margins
00:32:21.080 --> 00:32:22.549
in our you know we'll give them that
00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:24.549
feedback that are not up to our standard
00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:25.909
and therefore that's why we're passing
00:32:25.919 --> 00:32:27.950
and it just makes us a better business
00:32:27.960 --> 00:32:30.549
partner with with um with our managers
00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:33.509
as well awesome that's cool all right so
00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:35.629
um just to finish it up here I wanted to
00:32:35.639 --> 00:32:37.950
kind of like zoom out a little bit and
00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:41.070
take it back to the investor or LP seat
00:32:41.080 --> 00:32:43.110
and just think about two things really
00:32:43.120 --> 00:32:45.230
that I'm curious about one is you know
00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:47.310
you had mentioned insurance companies as
00:32:47.320 --> 00:32:49.110
investors in this asset class upfront so
00:32:49.120 --> 00:32:51.430
it' be interesting to hear about just
00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:52.870
broadly like where you're seeing
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:55.149
interests from a client perspective and
00:32:55.159 --> 00:32:57.470
then secondly if you think there's any
00:32:57.480 --> 00:33:00.149
Miss conceptions that remain out there
00:33:00.159 --> 00:33:01.389
around this asset class it'd be
00:33:01.399 --> 00:33:03.509
interesting to hear about those we're
00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:05.110
seeing interest from all types of
00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:08.070
investors so it could be state pension
00:33:08.080 --> 00:33:09.669
plans it could be corporate pension
00:33:09.679 --> 00:33:12.870
plans um insurance companies I think
00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:14.470
there a lot of these investors are
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:17.389
seeing the value um they're concerned
00:33:17.399 --> 00:33:19.350
about inflation and they like the fact
00:33:19.360 --> 00:33:21.509
that you have a hard asset you have the
00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:23.789
inflation protections of contracted
00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:26.470
revenues um so they really like that
00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:29.269
profile um there's really two big
00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:32.269
misconceptions um one is that investors
00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:33.830
think infrastructure they think this
00:33:33.840 --> 00:33:37.710
lower return and lower you know yielding
00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:40.350
lower returns so think generally kind of
00:33:40.360 --> 00:33:42.870
from a return perspective in that like 6
00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:45.669
to 8% on a best case scenario which
00:33:45.679 --> 00:33:48.269
really correlates to core core Plus and
00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:50.870
what we described as an infrastructure
00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:53.590
1.0 um but as we've talked about
00:33:53.600 --> 00:33:55.430
throughout this whole podcast there are
00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:57.389
opportunities to generate more private
00:33:57.399 --> 00:33:58.389
equity
00:33:58.399 --> 00:34:00.269
uh returns and do you think about
00:34:00.279 --> 00:34:03.310
investing in that value ad and that
00:34:03.320 --> 00:34:06.310
opportunistic um the second I would say
00:34:06.320 --> 00:34:08.310
big myth out there is that
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.190
infrastructure requires billions and
00:34:10.200 --> 00:34:11.950
billions of dollars and therefore that's
00:34:11.960 --> 00:34:13.950
why you need to have these Mega funds to
00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:15.510
go after these opportunities and
00:34:15.520 --> 00:34:17.550
hopefully throughout this um whole
00:34:17.560 --> 00:34:20.069
conversation we've been able to um help
00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:23.510
you understand that it is um the
00:34:23.520 --> 00:34:25.510
opportunity is not on the larger end of
00:34:25.520 --> 00:34:27.389
the market it's in that smaller end so
00:34:27.399 --> 00:34:29.669
therefore for being a smaller manager
00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:31.869
with less than a billion dollars still
00:34:31.879 --> 00:34:34.190
is um is the place to be because you are
00:34:34.200 --> 00:34:36.990
able to take advantage of um these
00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:39.349
smaller scale projects again aggregating
00:34:39.359 --> 00:34:41.550
them to be to potentially being larger
00:34:41.560 --> 00:34:43.190
that can be bought by the bigger
00:34:43.200 --> 00:34:46.230
platforms and so you don't need to be
00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:48.950
large to invest in the asset class which
00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:51.470
is really also great for those smaller
00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:54.389
institutional investors um who don't
00:34:54.399 --> 00:34:56.909
have you know they may have a 105
00:34:56.919 --> 00:34:59.589
billion total portfolio so you don't
00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:01.950
need to have a lot of capital to be a
00:35:01.960 --> 00:35:05.390
player um in the infrastructure space so
00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:07.230
um those are I would say are the biggest
00:35:07.240 --> 00:35:09.790
myths um or misconceptions that I see in
00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:12.550
the market and um and hopefully we're
00:35:12.560 --> 00:35:14.270
you know we'll have an opportunity to
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:15.710
connect with you all who are listening
00:35:15.720 --> 00:35:17.950
who um to to see that there is this
00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:19.790
opportunity to generate these great
00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:22.950
great returns and invest in in areas of
00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:25.550
the market that are growing um and
00:35:25.560 --> 00:35:28.310
frankly inaccessible by in the public
00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:30.589
markets and and probably inaccessible
00:35:30.599 --> 00:35:32.470
with your exposure to the larger end of
00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:34.710
the market awesome well thank you I
00:35:34.720 --> 00:35:38.030
think we have hopefully uh done a good
00:35:38.040 --> 00:35:39.470
job kind of shedding some new light on
00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:40.990
this asset class today I certainly feel
00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:42.550
smarter about it hopefully our listeners
00:35:42.560 --> 00:35:45.030
do too um and and hopefully we cleared
00:35:45.040 --> 00:35:47.390
up some of these misconceptions about um
00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:49.030
the private infrastructure Equity space
00:35:49.040 --> 00:35:51.230
especially in that smaller to um kind of
00:35:51.240 --> 00:35:53.510
mid part of the market so Mina thank you
00:35:53.520 --> 00:35:55.230
very much I really appreciate this thank
00:35:55.240 --> 00:35:57.750
you for your time thanks for listening
00:35:57.760 --> 00:35:59.670
to or watching this episode of streaming
00:35:59.680 --> 00:36:02.150
income if you'd like to stay up todate
00:36:02.160 --> 00:36:04.390
on our latest thoughts on asset classes
00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:06.390
ranging from high yield and private
00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:09.150
credit to real estate debt and Equity
00:36:09.160 --> 00:36:11.069
make sure to follow us and leave a
00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:13.710
review on your favorite podcast platform
00:36:13.720 --> 00:36:16.910
we're on Apple podcasts Spotify YouTube
00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:18.910
and more and if you have specific
00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:21.150
feedback you can email us at podcast
00:36:21.160 --> 00:36:25.150
bears.com that's podcast at b a r n
00:36:25.160 --> 00:36:27.710
gs.com thanks again for listening and
00:36:27.720 --> 00:36:31.280
see you next time