The Infrastructure Investor Podcast

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Waldemar Szlezak, KKR’s global head of digital infrastructure. In a wide-ranging discussion, they address whether there's a bubble forming around AI infrastructure and why parts of the market are overheating during one of the fastest capex cycles in tech history. They then explore the lifespan of data centre infrastructure compared to the rapid obsolescence of the GPUs that power it, touch on the industry's “coordination tax”, examine KKR's molecule to the rack strategy, and much more. We're going to be talking about digital infrastructure a lot at the Infrastructure Investor Global Summit, taking place in Berlin from the 24th to the 27th of March 2026. We have an early bird deadline offer expiring on the 12th of December, which you should definitely consider. So don't miss your chance to lock in discounted registration and join over 3,000 infrastructure decision makers – including 1,000 LPs from 50 plus countries – at the iconic STATION Berlin.

In this episode, Daniel Kemp, APAC editor, private markets, for PEI Group and APAC real assets reporter Tom Taylor reflect on our recent Infrastructure Investor Network Australia Forum, in Melbourne, and other Asia-Pacific events held this year. The discussion covers a wide range of topics, including how geopolitics is shaping investment decisions across the region; AI and digital infrastructure’s thematic dominance, with massive demand for data centres driving investment not only in developing markets but also in Southeast Asia; the headwinds Australia is facing, with foreign investor frustration over new tax rules, and renewables stagnation; the maturation of Japan’s investor base, with LPs starting to make more direct fund commitments; the importance of relationship-driven capital, and much more.

In this episode, Infrastructure Investor editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Americas editor Zak Bentley to talk about the record fundraising year the asset class is having for unlisted, closed-end structures. With $200 billion raised during the first nine months of the year – and a further $30 billion added to that since we published our fundraising report – 2025 has handily surpassed the heady years of 2021-22. What’s more, with one quarter to go, expect fundraising to climb to hitherto unimaginable heights. Our discussion, then, hinges on how we got to this extraordinary moment for the asset class, what’s behind the headline figures, the continuing importance of time on the road in shaping the market, what fundraising in future years could look like, LP appetite and more.

This episode is sponsored by Fengate Asset Management and Arcus Infrastructure Partners As a backlash against ESG gathers strength, particularly in the United States, it might be reasonable to assume that infrastructure managers are quietly retreating from their sustainability commitments. While it is true that some managers are adjusting their language in how they talk about ESG and sustainability, we find that others are still eager to emphasise their importance to the asset class. In this episode, Della Wang, director for responsible investment at Fengate Asset Management, and Neil Krawitz, partner and head of ESG and asset management at Arcus Infrastructure Partners, discuss how managers need to take a long-term view when it comes to sustainability. They agree that a key focus now needs to be on adaptation, as climate change forces managers to confront the reality of more frequent and extreme weather events.

This episode is sponsored by Antin Infrastructure Partners The infrastructure market is constantly evolving, with technological advancements, environmental concerns and shifting economic and demographic trends bringing significant changes to the transport sector. So staying on top of a series of mega-trends – such as decarbonisation and digitalisation – can unearth exciting investment opportunities. This episode focuses on key trends in the space and how investors can take advantage of them. Angelika Schöchlin, managing partner at Antin Infrastructure Partners, and Simon Soder, senior partner and head of the firm’s London office, cover everything from safety management infrastructure and high-speed rail to salmon farming, underlining the dynamic set opportunities within the transport sector.

In this episode, Infrastructure Investor editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Sikander Rashid, global head of AI Infrastructure at Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield is the largest manager in the world, according to our Infrastructure Investor 100 ranking. It also bills itself as the world’s “largest digital infrastructure investor – with more than $100 billion invested to date – and the world’s largest private capital investor in clean energy”. Both are handy as it launches its new AI infrastructure strategy. Unsurprisingly, we spend a lot of time talking about how that strategy will work, and why Brookfield decided to create it. A highlight of our conversation is how Brookfield intends to bring down the cost of capital for compute – via GPU-as-a-service, for example – and whether those investments will check the right infrastructure investment boxes. We also touch on the growing investment opportunity in stabilised data centres, digital sovereignty and much more.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Americas editor Zak Bentley to talk about the fundraising performance of the asset class during the first half of the year. With more than $134 billion raised for unlisted, closed-end funds, H1 2025 is already better than the whole of 2024. Our discussion delves into how solid the fundraising recovery is, the importance of the mega-funds, how metrics like time on the road have evolved, what fundraising for 2026 could look like, LP appetite, and much more.

In this episode, Infrastructure Investor editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Stonepeak chairman, CEO and co-founder Michael Dorrell. Stonepeak is the seventh-largest manager in the world, according to our Infrastructure Investor 100 ranking, and Dorrell is a well-known industry veteran. So perhaps unsurprisingly, a large portion of our discussion focused on how the asset class has been evolving. For example, how strong are the moats of different types of infrastructure assets, and what’s the next best thing if they don’t have a strong moat? Why does Dorrell feel that a scarcity of power actually improved the moats and the longevity of contracts in the data centre sector? How is he feeling about the health of the US renewables sector? What thresholds had to be crossed for Stonepeak, a predominantly North America-focused investor, to branch out into other geographies? And much more.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Madeleine Farman, editor of affiliate title Secondaries Investor and host of the Second Thoughts Podcast, as well as Americas editor Zak Bentley to talk about the infrastructure secondaries market. The discussion tracks the evolution of the burgeoning infrastructure secondaries market, the asset class’s best-in-class pricing compared to other private asset classes, how LP-led deals rule by volume but GP-led transactions end up being the most sizeable, the outsized role of continuation funds, the promise of the nascent buyer-led secondaries opportunity, and much more.

Editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Actis chairman and senior partner Torbjorn Caesar. In a wide-ranging discussion with the growth markets specialist, Caesar argues that perception of risk (versus real risk) is still the main impediment to channeling more infrastructure capital into these markets. He also explains why investors should think of growth markets as “most markets”, how strong demand for critical infrastructure offers the strongest risk mitigation, which markets offer the best opportunities, and much more.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Partners Group’s head of infrastructure, Esther Peiner. The discussion covers a broad range of topics, including the recent Iberian blackout and the importance of resilience, how to invest through the current volatility, why managers have to think of a world where LPs need more regular access to liquidity, how persistent inflation could threaten the asset class's diversification benefits, and much more.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Nathalie Tidman, editor of Infrastructure Investor Deals, our new transactions-focused affiliate title launched in January, and Americas editor Zak Bentley, to talk about the deal landscape. The discussion delves into the slow pace of European M&A and why it predates current market volatility, why LPs are shying away from platforms dominated by early-stage pipelines, opportunities in the transport and energy-from-waste sectors, and the rise in infrastructure-adjacent opportunities.

Infrastructure Investor editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Americas editor Zak Bentley to discuss their main takeaways from the Infrastructure Investor Network’s Global Summit, recently held in Berlin, that featured more than 3,000 members, including 800-plus LPs. The discussion covers artificial intelligence, investors’ craving for certainty in the midst of geopolitical upheaval, the double-edged sword of regulation, LP appetite for mid-market products, direct investing and much more. Infrastructure Investor Network members feeling the need to connect further should keep our upcoming Investor Forum in mind. Taking place in London 9-10 September, it will gather 300-plus industry leaders, including more than 150 LPs. Find out more here.

This episode is sponsored by Edmond de Rothschild and Palistar Capital Digital infrastructure is developing rapidly, turbocharged first by the coronavirus pandemic and now by advances in artificial intelligence, which have turned data centres into arguably the hottest investment in infrastructure at the moment. The sector also includes fibre and towers, both of which are also attracting strong investor interest. This episode of The Infrastructure Investor Podcast focuses on the growth of – and opportunities within – digital infrastructure’s three key subsectors. Jean-Francis Dusch, global head of infrastructure and structured finance at EdR, and Josh Oboler, investment partner at Palistar Capital, explore how AI is transforming the data centre landscape, where to find the best opportunities in fibre, and why towers continue to make such a good investment.

In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Blackstone global head of infrastructure Sean Klimczak. Infrastructure was Blackstone’s best-performing asset class in 2024, generating a gross return of 21 percent, according to the firm’s Q4 results. Blackstone is also one of the few industry titans fully committed to investing in the asset class through an open-ended strategy. Unsurprisingly, a big part of our conversation focuses on what’s underpinning that strong performance – including the three pillars that make a “classic Blackstone infrastructure deal”, as Klimczak put it – as well as Blackstone’s blockbuster acquisition of pan-Asian data centre business AirTrunk, why Klimczak continues to be bullish on the AI infrastructure opportunity, the enduring appeal of transportation, and the advantages of building a portfolio within an open-ended framework.

As infrastructure changes and evolves as an asset class, we often discuss whether it’s become riskier. But what does "risker" actually mean? In this episode, editor-in-chief Bruno Alves, Americas editor Zak Bentley and Anne-Louise Stranne Petersen, senior reporter – energy transition, debate what asset class characteristics are falling by the wayside, which new risks investors need to be aware of these days – particularly in the burgeoning energy transition arena – and whether a riskier asset class is still something most people would call infrastructure.

Editor-in-chief Bruno Alves sits down with Petya Nikolova, deputy CIO and head of infrastructure at the Office of the New York City Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management. The Bureau oversees the investments of the five New York City retirement systems, which have a collective $280 billion of assets under management, with $8.4 billion invested in infrastructure as of December 2024. Nikolova has led the infrastructure programme since inception and has now had the opportunity to see it perform in an inflationary environment. That performance has confirmed the asset class’s peerless inflation passthrough capabilities. In a wide-ranging discussion, Nikolova tackles infrastructure’s role as a diversifier in the systems’ portfolios, how to thoughtfully manage exposure to the mega-trends of digital infrastructure and the energy transition, and whether infrastructure as an asset class is climbing up the risk curve. To hear more of our episodes, head to infrastructureinvestor.com/podcast or you can search and subscribe to The Infrastructure Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen.

This episode is sponsored by Ridgewood Infrastructure and I Squared Capital   The need for new infrastructure in markets like the United States is immense, and private capital has a big role to play in making it happen. The mid-market may be especially well-positioned to offer that institutional capital a share in the growth potential of the mega-trends shaping the future of global infrastructure. So in this episode, attention turns to this segment of the market. Gautam Bhandari, co-founder and managing partner of I Squared Capital, and Ross Posner, managing partner of Ridgewood Infrastructure, share their insights on how the mid-market has evolved to date, how well it’s stood up in difficult macroeconomic conditions, where to look for those growth opportunities, and why the sector is primed to benefit from a predicted infra supercycle.

This episode is sponsored by Eurazeo and Actis Renewable energy is being deployed rapidly around the world, and various green industries are cropping up to take advantage of cleaner and cheaper power. The rollout of renewables is shaping new economic realities, as industries increasingly look to tap into greener sources of power. Many parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa are poised to benefit. Europe, meanwhile, faces a challenge in sustaining its remaining industrial strength as it battles with high power prices. In this episode, Laurent Chatelin, a partner in the infrastructure investment team at Eurazeo, and James Mittell, director for energy infrastructure at Actis, talk with Ben Payton about the global challenge of providing energy security and affordability. While they both see opportunities and challenges ahead, one thing is clear: for the energy transition, there is no turning back. Please note that the views and opinions stated on this podcast represent those of the individuals making such remarks and are not necessarily representative of the views and opinions held by their firms.

In this episode, Infrastructure Investor senior editor Bruno Alves, deputy editor Kalliope Gourntis and Americas editor Zak Bentley take a deep dive into the infrastructure fundraising market. After two years of contracting totals, fundraising for unlisted, closed-end vehicles hit a low point in 2024. With circa $92 billion raised, last year’s tally was the lowest since 2015 – and the first time in nearly a decade that fundraising totals have dipped below $100 billion. We discuss when the market can expect a recovery in fundraising, the ever-larger amounts of time spent on the road by managers to raise funds, and what a sustainable return to health could look like. Read more: Full year fundraising fully disappoints