07
Jan
Opening panel discussion: North America the No.1 destination for infrastructure investing
Over the past couple of years, the U.S. has become a premier destination for infrastructure investment, especially in the fields of energy transition, renewable power generation, and digital infrastructure. The legislative bills passed under the Biden administration have catalysed investment and job growth despite the turbulent economic and geopolitical climate. In this opening panel session panellists will set the scene for 2024 discussing:
- What were the stand-out deals of 2024 and where are the short- and medium-term opportunities?
- What are some of the market high points, and what are the areas to steer clear from?
- Where are current valuation benchmarks?
- What is the future for core infrastructure investing and how resilient will investment be against the current macroeconomic environment?
- What is the likely impact of the 2024 Presidential election on infrastructure investing?
- What does the M&A pipeline hold for 2024 and will political headwinds stymie dealflow?
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SpeakersEric Wittleder Managing Director Brookfield Infrastructure
Chris Ortega Managing Director and Head of Americas Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners
Robert Valentine Senior Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Advisory (Americas) Macquarie Capital
Michael Hill Executive Vice President & Global Head of Infrastructure OMERS Infrastructure
Cedric Lucas Managing Director, Asset and Wealth Management, Infrastructure Funds Goldman Sachs
Dolly Mirchandani Partner, Global Head of Infrastructure, Transportation and Logistics White and Case
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Eric Wittleder is a Managing Director in Brookfield’s Infrastructure Group. In this role, Mr. Wittleder is responsible for infrastructure investment activities for Brookfield’s infrastructure debt strategy in the Americas and supports the oversight of the underwriting of global credit investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Brookfield in 2017, Mr. Wittleder worked for several leading investment banks, raising debt capital for energy and infrastructure projects in the U.S. and Latin America.
Mr. Wittleder holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University.
Chris Ortega is a Managing Director and Head of Americas of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP). Prior to joining MSIP, Chris was a Partner at TPG Capital, based in New York, where he led their energy and natural resources group. Before that, he was a Director at First Reserve Corporation. Chris holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a JD (magna cum laude) from Harvard Law School, and a BA (magna cum laude) from Harvard University.
Robert heads Macquarie Capital’s market-leading infrastructure advisory practice, consisting primarily of advising clients in buying, selling, financing and restructuring complex infrastructure and infrastructure-like assets.
He has worked exclusively in infrastructure projects since 2000, starting in Australia then, in August 2008, relocating permanently to New York City to further Macquarie’s efforts in infrastructure advisory in the U.S. and Latin America. Robert has expertise in the toll road, port, airport, parking, water, power, energy and social infrastructure sectors, advising a raft of infrastructure funds, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds over the past 19 years.
His particular focus is in project management of complex transactions and raising capital for projects (debt and equity) in a manner which best suits the key stakeholders.
Robert also leads Macquarie’s US sponsor coverage team, managing Macquarie’s relationship with infrastructure capital managers based in the US.
Michael is Executive Vice President & Global Head of OMERS Infrastructure. He joined OMERS in September 2023 and is based in New York.
Michael is a highly respected investment professional and leader with more than 30 years of broadly diversified, global investment experience. At OMERS he has accountability and oversight for our global infrastructure investment and asset management programs.
Michael joined OMERS from another Canadian pension plan where most recently he was the Americas Head of Sustainable Energies, focused on direct private equity investments across the energy sector. He was also the head of the firm’s New York office. Previously, Michael spent over 25 years in investment banking, working across asset classes, in various roles at Nomura Securities, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley. He has worked globally, and been based out of New York, London and Toronto.
Michael holds an HBA from Ivey Business School, where he is also a Board member, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Cedric Lucas is focused on infrastructure investing in the Americas for Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He joined Goldman Sachs as a Managing Director in 2019 and is a member of the Asset Management Private Infrastructure Investment Committee. He also serves on the boards of directors of Mitigation Investment Holdings, Synagro Technologies and Synthica Energy. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Lucas was a member of the senior leadership of the KKR Global Infrastructure Fund and headed midstream investing at Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA). Before that, he focused on energy investment banking and infrastructure finance and engineering. He earned an MBA with high distinction, Baker Scholar, from Harvard Business School, an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, and a master's degree in Engineering from Ecole Centrale Paris.
Dolly's practice focuses on the infrastructure and energy sector, including public private partnerships, reflecting 25 years of experience working on some of the most significant deals in the sector. She represents sponsors, infrastructure funds, commercial banks, institutional lenders, contractors, secondary market investors and governments in the tender, development, acquisition and financing of greenfield and brownfield infrastructure projects. Dolly has advised across multiple infrastructure asset classes including surface transportation (airports, ports, roads, parking, bridges, transit and rail), water and wastewater, waste management, district energy, digital and social infrastructure. Her breadth of practice and decades of experience allows her to anticipate concerns, propose solutions and promote agreement. She has played a leading role in the introduction of private investment and finance in the infrastructure sector in North America, having advised on multiple, award-winning transactions, including ones that were first-of-their-kind.