- Versus its competitors in the asset class, Frishberg said many other managers do not take the purity of the definition as seriously as Nomura when it comes to defining the investable universe.
- “Variations in the definition of an infrastructure company across the peer universe play a key role in driving performance differences,” he said. “For example, certain competitors will hold positions in companies that we do not deem to be infrastructure, such as payment companies like Visa and Mastercard, property businesses such as SEGRO and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, oil and gas, and gold royalties. Holding such assets, while potentially good investments, can change the characteristics of the exposure and the potential performance of a portfolio.”
- Indeed, Frishberg highlights the performance the fund has generated since launch has been a second key differentiator versus its peers, with the portfolio delivering excess returns versus the benchmark in 15/17 calendar years since inception on a gross-of-fees basis.
- “We are extremely proud of the performance that we have generated over the last five years and beyond compared with the competitive universe,” he said.
- The third differentiator, added Frishberg, is the structure of the team, which by design is located across multiple jurisdictions, with team members based in New York, Sydney and Munich.
- “The geographic diversity is a strong competitive advantage as this ‘boots on the ground’ approach can provide a broader set of localised insights into potential investment opportunities,” he said.