Morgan Stanley global infrastructure fund exceeds target $2.5-billion target; closes at $4 billion

Global financial services firm Morgan Stanley today said that it had exceeded the $2.5-billion target for its global infrastructure fund to be managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners,  which closed today with with $4.0 billion of equity commitments. James Gorman, co-president of Morgan Stanley, commented, "The successful fund-raising underscores the particular demand for infrastructure investment, and broadly, for alternative assets that generate long-term stable cashflows."

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners is a global investment platform that focuses on long-term investments associated with providing essential public goods and services to societies across the globe.
The fund raised its capital in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and will be run out of New York, London , Hong Kong and Beijing. Despite the global economic slowdown in recent months, banks and financial groups have been sucessfully garnering new funds.
The launch of Morgan Stanley's fund comes just weeks after Citigroup exceeded its stake sale target by 50 per cent raising $4.5 billion (See: Citigroup stake sale fetches $4.5 billion; exceeds target by 50 per cent). and RREEF and ING launched their international infrastructure funds

 Investors include major pension funds, insurance companies, high net worth individuals as well as Morgan Stanley and its employees.  Gorman added, "Infrastructure is now an important component of any asset allocation strategy; it offers portfolio diversification and the ability to invest in 'real' assets, with uncorrelated investment returns relative to other asset classes."

"To date, we have investments that exceed $1 billion in enterprise value that have achieved higher than expected returns," said Sadek Wahba, Chief Investment Officer and Global Head of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure.  "The current challenging market conditions are creating unique opportunities in the infrastructure sector, and we are benefiting from our global footprint that is generating a strong investment pipeline across the Americas, Europe and Asia."

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure's investment team is located in New York, London, Hong Kong and Beijing, with in-depth collective infrastructure experience across various sectors.  The Fund targets investments in assets that provide public goods or essential services in sectors such as transportation, energy and utilities, social infrastructure and communications.