03
Mar
Australasia update: Building conviction
There continues to be a significant shift in how investors view infrastructure as they look to refresh their portfolios moving away from super-core assets pivoting toward core-plus and value-add opportunities that promise higher returns. At the large end of the market, there is hope that 2026 will see mega-deals return and greater clarity around government priorities for driving productivity and approving projects. For foreign investors, while Australia’s fundamentals still make it an attractive market, higher tax rates, regulatory barriers and growing negativity in some quarters about non-domestic investors controlling Australian assets remain causes for concern. It will be interesting to see the direction long-term players take as they commit capital to the asset class and seek to attract LPs on their next fundraising trail.
- Are global funds still seeing Australia and New Zealand as a low-risk and safe long-term bet?
- What other opportunities are exciting investors outside of energy and data centres?
- Where are the returns coming from and how are GPs fundraising plans taking shape?
- How do you exit an asset that has multiple co-investors?
- How is the definition of core-plus infrastructure shifting?
- What lessons have investors learned from their best and worst deals?
-
SpeakersShaun Drummond Managing Editor, Asia Pacific Infralogic
Danny Latham Partner, Head of Australia and New Zealand Igneo Infrastructure Partners
Andrew Jennings Managing Director, Infrastructure KKR
Christopher Curtain Senior Managing Director, Asia-Pacific OMERS Infrastructure
Ross Israel Head of Global Infrastructure QIC
Tats Kato Executive Head of M&A & Project Origination, Managing Director Department Sojitz
Loading feed
Co-Sponsors
Confirm cancellation
Something went wrong.
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
CloseSign-up to join the ION Analytics Community to:
- Register for events
- Access market insights
- Download reports
Shaun is managing editor, APAC, for Infralogic. Prior to that he was deputy editor, news editor and senior reporter at Infralogic where he has covered Australia, NZ and Asia for eight years. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter and editor at The Australian Financial Review for eight years. His roles there included editor of CFO magazine, reporter on AFR Dealbook and financial services reporter for the Companies and Markets section of the AFR.
Danny Latham is the Head of Australia and New Zealand and a Partner of Igneo Infrastructure Partners, based in Sydney. He is a member of the EDIF II, GDIF, NADIF and WIIF Investment Committees. Danny currently sits on the board of directors of investee company coNEXA.
Prior to joining the team in 2007, Danny worked for RREEF Infrastructure. Danny holds a Bachelor of Economics and Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.
Andrew Jennings joined KKR in 2020 and is a member of the Asia Pacific Infrastructure team. Mr. Jennings is responsible for infrastructure investments in Australia and New Zealand, and serves on the Board of Directors of Spark Infrastructure, Ritchies Transport and Queensland Airports. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Jennings was a sector lead for the energy & utilities team within QIC's global infrastructure business. Mr. Jennings has led transactions across various sectors including renewable energy, regulated utilities and transport. Prior to QIC, Mr. Jennings worked in Deutsche Bank's corporate finance team in both London and Sydney, specialising in infrastructure & utilities. Mr. Jennings holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil), with First Class Honours, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Queensland.
In his role as Senior Managing Director, Asia-Pacific at OMERS Infrastructure, Christopher leads the APAC team based in Sydney and Singapore, and is responsible for OMERS Infrastructure’s strategy across the APAC region, including all investment and asset management activities. Christopher joined OMERS in 2014 and since that time has played a key role in building the presence in Australia and the APAC region, including investments in the Port of Melbourne, Transgrid, Azure Power, FRV Australia and, most recently, TPG’s mobile tower portfolio.
Prior to joining OMERS Infrastructure, Christopher spent seven years with GIC’s infrastructure team in London, leading transaction-execution teams and holding board director roles for major investments in the regulated utilities, power generation, midstream energy and transportation sectors. Before GIC, Christopher spent eight years with PwC in Australia and the U.K., leading financial advisory mandates on numerous infrastructure projects across Australia, Asia and Europe. He also previously held roles with the Reserve Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank.
Christopher holds a Bachelor of Business (Banking & Finance) from Victoria University, a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ross co-founded QIC Global Infrastructure (‘GI’) in early 2006. Ross provides overall leadership to the team which currently manages 23 direct investments across six countries, out of five offices located in Australia, UK and US. He has had oversight as a member of the QIC Global Infrastructure Investment Committee of all of the team’s investments. In addition to his infrastructure responsibilities, Ross is also a member of QIC’s Executive Management Committee.
Ross has over 30 years of experience in the field of corporate finance and funds management with specialist skills in infrastructure, asset management, capital raisings and M&A.
Prior to QIC, Ross was with AMP Capital from 2000 to 2005. He co-led the AMP team responsible for the creation of the Diversified Utility and Energy Trusts (DUET). After which he was seconded into the management joint venture between AMP Capital and Macquarie Bank established prior to DUET’s listing on the ASX in August 2004. He was DUET’s Chief Operating Officer until his departure to QIC. Prior to joining AMP Capital, Ross worked for ABN AMRO and BZW in their Australian Infrastructure Corporate Advisory and London M&A teams and with Ernst & Young in their Sydney Corporate Tax division.
Ross is currently a director at Generate Capital. Ross holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law from the University of Queensland.
Tats Kato is Executive Head of M&A & Project Origination | Managing Director Department at Sojitz Australia, which is one of Japan’s seven largest strategic investment and trading companies listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange. With a history of over 160 years, Sojitz has a presence in more than 50 countries through a worldwide network of over 530 subsidiaries and affiliates, employing approximately 26,000 people.
Based in Sydney, Tats leads M&As and greenfield business developments across sectors inlcuding essential infrastructure, transport, energy, natural resources / critical minerals, industirals, food / agriculture throughout Australia.
He is also an AJBCC-JABCC Future Leader, actively promoting business cooperation and sustainable growth between Australia and Japan.
Tats has a Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University.