Building multi-asset resilience with listed infrastructure
Why the MyFolio team believes infrastructure plays a vital role in future-ready portfolios.
Duration: 3 Mins
Date: 13 Oct 2025
According to our research, an estimated $64 trillion is required globally by 2050 to meet infrastructure needs (1). This huge investment gap is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Private sector poised to bridge the gap
Governments are increasingly constrained by their existing borrowings. Global government debt now sits at over $100 trillion (2), and in the US alone, interest payments now exceed defence spending.
Private capital must step in to fund essential infrastructure projects
This fiscal reality means private capital must step in to fund essential infrastructure projects, creating opportunities for long-term investors.
Why infrastructure, why now?
Over the past 200 years, infrastructure has underpinned every major human innovation cycle. From the railways of the Industrial Revolution to today’s digital networks, infrastructure has consistently enabled transformative progress.
As we enter the next wave of innovation, the pace of change is accelerating, and infrastructure is once again at the heart of it.
The expanding universe of infrastructure assets
Traditionally, infrastructure conjures images of toll roads, bridges, and water systems. But today’s infrastructure universe is far broader and more dynamic. Around 50% of the sub-asset classes in the Global Infrastructure Index didn’t exist three decades ago. From renewable energy and data centres to smart grids and digital networks, infrastructure is evolving in tandem with human innovation.
Three megatrends are driving this evolution:
- Urbanisation: The global population has doubled in the last 50 years and is expected to grow by another two billion by 2100. Urban populations are set to increase by 50% over the next 35–50 years, creating massive demand for housing, transport, and utilities. India alone will add over 400 million urban residents by 2050 (3).
- Energy transition: Renewable energy is gaining momentum. Meanwhile artificial intelligence (AI) and data usage are accelerating energy demand, with projections suggesting data facilities powering AI applications will account for 10% of global electricity demand growth by 2035 (4). Tech giants like Microsoft are already investing in dedicated power infrastructure to support AI growth, including ‘un-mothballing’ a decommissioned reactor at the famous Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
- Digital acceleration: Data consumption is surging—from streaming and mobile usage to autonomous vehicles. A single autonomous car can generate as much data in one hour as an iPhone would in 3,000 years (5). Building the infrastructure to support this digital future is a structural growth story.
Listed vs. unlisted infrastructure: key considerations
Infrastructure investments can be accessed via listed or unlisted vehicles, each with distinct characteristics:
- Listed infrastructure: Offers liquidity, accessibility, and lower entry points. Investors gain exposure to specialist operators through equities, making it suitable for retail and smaller institutional portfolios.
- Unlisted infrastructure: Involves direct ownership of assets and cash flows, often through private funds or concessions. While offering potentially higher returns and inflation-linked cash flows, it typically requires higher minimum investments, longer lock-in periods, and direct day-to-day management.
Diversification and portfolio fit
Listed infrastructure offers several desirable features in our view:
- Stable, predictable cash flows: Many infrastructure assets have long-term contracts with embedded inflation protection.
- Low correlation: Infrastructure tends to have low correlation with traditional asset classes like equities and bonds, enhancing portfolio diversification.
- Yield generation: Listed infrastructure companies often provide attractive dividend yields, making them appealing for income-seeking investors.
Resilience across market cycles
Infrastructure has demonstrated resilience in volatile markets. During the 2022 bond market reset and recent US tariff-led geopolitical tensions, infrastructure outperformed traditional asset classes. Even in rising interest rate environments, infrastructure has held up well due to its long-duration cash flows, inflation-linked income and yield generation characteristics.
Integration into adviser portfolios
Aberdeen’s MyFolio fund range integrates listed infrastructure across Passive, Hybrid, Active, and ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategies. The MyFolio process evaluates new asset classes using five criteria: liquidity, accessibility, distinctiveness, diversification, and risk premium.
Beneficial listed infrastructure exposure…across five risk profiles.
With 15 years of risk-targeted investing, the award-winning MyFolio range offers a robust risk calibration process. Advisers can confidently align beneficial listed infrastructure exposure for their clients across five risk profiles.
A strategic allocation for the future
Listed infrastructure investment is a strategic allocation that addresses global challenges while potentially delivering financial benefits. For advisers, incorporating infrastructure into client portfolios offers a way to tap into long-term growth, diversify risk, and contribute to societal progress. Infrastructure can play a vital role in building resilient, future-ready portfolios in our view.
More about MyFolio
For more information about the MyFolio fund family, visit our website or speak to your local business development director.
- Source: Aberdeen, June 2025
- Source: OECD Global Debt Report March 2025
- Source: RICS The planet of cities, Nov 2024
- Source: BP World Energy Outlook, Sept 2025
- Source: Samsung Tech Blog, May 2022
