Emerging markets and Asia, in particular, in fact vary enormously in terms of their size, wealth, appetite for – and experience in – involving the private sector in provision of infrastructure, their legal and regulatory frameworks and, not least, their willingness to think long term i.e. beyond the current electoral cycle.
Andrew advises financial institutions and corporates on their strategy for investing in infrastructure in Asia.
In 2012 – 13, he advised an Australian superannuation fund on how to diversify into Asian infrastructure. There are comparatively few investment opportunities in the region which have achieved Financial Close, been constructed and proved up the revenue line via two to three years of operations. Competition to buy into these is correspondingly higher, prices higher and returns lower to passive investors when they are unable to enhance their yield by also building, supplying or operating the asset as trade investors do. However, diversification and attractive yields can be found by careful selection and mitigation of early revenue, construction and even development risk. Choice of project and partners is, as always, key.
Andrew has first hand experience of corporate strategy in that when he arrived at WestLB in 1998 to run Global Structured Finance, Asia Pacific, the bank was starting strategic reviews of both Structured Finance worldwide and its bank-wide business in Asia Pacific. These two initiatives intersected at him and lasted a solid three months. Key to the planning was to identify how his three teams could distinguish themselves from the competition so as to appeal to clients; what could be earned therefrom; and what resources would be necessary to achieve this. He subsequently implemented the three quite distinct business plans, substantially enhancing all three teams’ earnings, risk profile and client awareness.
