Infrastructure shifts up a gear to shape the new economy
Infrastructure is set for another year of sustained momentum, following a strong rebound in fundraising in 2025, which more than doubled the previous year’s total.
Our search and mandate data shows that investor sentiment remains strong. Fund managers have seen particularly high demand for strategies such as energy transition and data centers.
The market will see further concentration of assets among the largest funds and fund managers, alongside the emergence of new managers competing for capital.
Infrastructure managers are seeking private wealth capital with the same urgency as their private equity and credit peers, with almost all big-name firms looking to develop new products in 2026. The appeal of the asset class as a fixed income substitute and portfolio diversifier has driven a doubling of allocator searches over the past two years.
In particular, open-ended and evergreen funds, as well as thematic energy transition strategies, are increasingly offered by investment consultants and OCIO firms.
Infrastructure secondaries are transitioning from a niche strategy to strategic allocations for investors seeking liquidity and portfolio protection amid market volatility. Leading managers are actively raising significant capital for secondaries funds.
Infrastructure debt is expected to gain traction as an attractive strategy, offering higher protection with returns becoming more competitive. These features appeal to allocators navigating high capital costs and inflation. Private credit managers establishing infrastructure debt-specific units indicate growing mainstream adoption.
Major infrastructure managers are increasingly targeting mid-market deals driven by megatrends like digitalization and energy transition, as funds raising multi-billion-dollar sums capitalize on both expansion and exit opportunities.
Southern Europe is attracting fundraising talent as new local managers benefit from favorable tax regimes and government energy transition programs. Italy’s Mechanism for the Provisioning of Electric Storage Capacity (MACSE) subsidy and Spain’s growing—though less mature—energy transition market offer promising investment opportunities.
Opportunities for emerging managers despite fundraising concentration
Infrastructure fundraising had a stellar year in 2025, and the momentum is expected to continue into 2026.
The sector bounced back from the six-year record-low $99 billion raised in 2024 to more than $250 billion in 2025, excluding co-investments. This marked the best year for the sector since 2015, driven by the close of several $10+ billion funds.
We estimate that $474 billion is currently being sought by closed-ended infrastructure funds globally, with $143 billion attributable to the top 10 managers.
The number of funds reaching final close has declined steadily since the end of 2021 as more capital has consolidated among the larger managers.
However, new managers are emerging. In the last quarter of 2025, we tracked 15 new managers seeking a total of more than $11 billion, with most positioned as value-add funds.
Infrastructure searches have steadily grown since 2021 and have more than quadrupled over the past five years, jumping from 44 to 186 in 2025.
As conviction in the asset class has continued to grow in recent years, investors have been allocating more capital to infrastructure as mandate sizes also grew over time.
Demand for data center exposure will remain strong
Demand for funds with data center exposure will be a key growth driver in 2026. Data centers have been a bright spot in real asset capital raising in recent years, with managers and investors seeking to capitalize on the AI boom and demand for physical assets.
Since 2020, we have tracked 144 real asset funds exposed to data centers, targeting nearly $200 billion in capital.
The number of newly built data centers has grown rapidly in recent years, from 346 in 2020 to over 600 in 2024. The latest available data for 2025 in the first six months shows building is expected to surpass the total for 2024.
604 data centers built in 2024 – the highest on record
In November, DigitalBridge closed its third data center flagship fund at $7.2 billion, plus $4.5 billion in co-investment capital. The manager, which is being acquired by Japanese financial group SoftBank to drive data center investment underpinning AI platforms, is in the market with a new AI fund.
In July, Blue Owl exceeded its initial $4 billion target and hit its hard cap with a $7 billion final close for Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Fund III that signaled huge demand from allocators. Blue Owl’s evergreen digital infrastructure fund also raised $1.7 billion in 2025. Blue Owl is expected to launch Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Fund IV in Q2 this year with a $9 billion target. Diversified funds across all risk appetites have continued to add data center exposure because of the strong return profiles offered.
However, doubts about the sustainability of AI investment have begun to creep in across all asset classes. Reports show that the most significant constraint on data centers is power supply.
The vast amount of energy required for data centers alongside regional building regulations in Europe and the US, provide further challenges realizing anticipated returns. Oversupply in China, and other APAC countries, remains a risk to return profiles.
Energy transition will keep driving infrastructure fundraising
Energy transition has continued to be a key area of fundraising growth in recent years as government incentives and geopolitics drive projects.
All signs point to continued growth in 2026. Allocator sentiment remains strong, with demand for energy transition fund mandates trebling from $1 billion in 2024 to $3 billion in 2025.
A series of mega-funds dedicated to the space saw huge demand last year.
Brookfield closed the Brookfield Global Transition Fund II at $20 billion in October, becoming the largest energy transition fund, far exceeding its initial target and adding $5 billion compared to its predecessor. While in Europe, Eiffel Energy Transition Fund III hit its €1.2 billion hard cap in December.
Evergreen and bespoke structures will remain attractive to investors
Investors are looking to invest more in private wealth-focused funds as they look to access infrastructure via evergreen and bespoke structures. This will support the launch of further evergreen vehicles by managers. Mandates for evergreen vehicles have more than doubled since 2023.
While the charge was led by US managers and, more recently, consultants, Europe is where most evergreen launches are expected in 2026, in line with a trend that started in late 2025. Ardian, Patrizia, Infranity, Rivage and RGreen all launched evergreen funds aimed at private wealth investors towards the end of 2025.
9x: Private wealth infrastructure searches jumped from 11 to 96 in four years
Overall, wealth firms are increasingly drawn to the asset class as a fixed income substitute, and there is now over $10 billion invested across a range of vehicles in the US alone, led by Brookfield’s $4.1 billion tender offer fund and followed by an older Harrison Street interval fund that operates across real assets.
While the capital raising environment is showing signs of recovery, the wealth space will continue to be a safe bet for managers to raise funds. Similarly for wealth managers, infrastructure will remain an important portfolio diversifier.
Investment consulting and OCIO firms are expected to continue leading US launch activity, with Stepstone Group, Hamilton Lane, Meketa, Russell Investments, GCM Grosvenor and Wilshire all active, attracted by the higher fees available for running such products and the opportunity to leverage longstanding relationships with investors.
Alongside more diversified offerings, firms have also been pitching thematic funds, particularly energy transition offerings that may resonate with sizable sections of the private wealth client base. Macquarie Asset Management’s Energy Transition Infrastructure Fund, which stands at close to $500 million, is understood to have a target of $1 billion over the next 12 months.
Consultants covering this space highlight a greater dispersion of returns for semi-liquid funds versus traditional closed-ended funds. They point to funds having to contend with the cash-drag of keeping a percentage of a portfolio liquid and the resulting risks being taken with a fund’s illiquid exposure.
Growth in secondaries continues to boost asset class maturity
With a record-breaking $30 billion combined GP and LP-led volume in 2025, infrastructure secondaries are set to transition fully from a niche segment to a key, strategic allocation for investors in 2026.
In a market still defined by volatility, geopolitical instability, trade disruptions and regulatory shifts, as well as capital intensity, secondaries will remain a resilient and efficient solution for portfolio rebalancing for investors seeking liquidity and protection. The share of infrastructure secondary mandates tripled in the last year.
Industry heavyweights are increasingly backing this asset class. Macquarie Asset Management is coming back less than six months after its debut secondaries fund’s final close and is targeting a “significant increase” for Macquarie Alliance Partners Infrastructure Fund II, which will seek capital in excess of $1 billion.
Ardian’s secondaries spinout Clipwater is also preparing its debut fund, with a $1 billion target and a timeline to launch in Q1 2026.
Other large managers making inroads in infrastructure secondaries include Ares Management, which wrapped fundraising for its third infrastructure secondaries vehicle, significantly exceeding its target with a $5.3 billion total raise. AXA Investment Managers Prime (the private capital unit of AXA Investment Managers) and Goldman Sachs Asset Management are also in the market, with AXA’s inaugural fund at 70% of its $1 billion target and Goldman’s second fund securing over $183 million at final close.
Infrastructure debt becoming more attractive to investors
After a few years of subdued fundraising, infrastructure debt is expected to experience growth and reach the maturity that managers have been aiming for in 2026.
Investor allocations into infrastructure debt have fluctuated since 2021, coming in at 9% of total allocation data in 2025. However, at a time of continued high capital costs, as well as sustained interest rate and inflation levels, infrastructure debt is expected to become increasingly attractive to allocators looking for relatively high returns while maintaining a level of protection.
Market participants have also pointed out that spread between debt and equity returns is lower than it was, meaning managers can obtain similar returns while securing a higher level of protection.
Infrastructure debt can also act as a portfolio diversification tool against equity, while offering the benefits of steady cash flow from an earlier stage, a lower risk profile and access to a more diversified market.
Investing in infrastructure debt gives investors access to high-quality real assets without the costs associated with due diligence and bidding in equity deals. It also provides immediate returns, offering more predictable income independent of portfolio exits.
A string of recent appointments signaling first forays into infrastructure debt suggest that traditionally private credit-focused managers are entering the space, making it more mainstream among debt investors.
In February 2025, Eagle Point Credit Management appointed former Energy Capital Partners’ Jennifer Powers to spearhead the launch of its infrastructure debt strategy.
After investing on a deal-by-deal basis through existing Eagle Point strategies, the manager is planning to launch its inaugural standalone infrastructure debt fund this year. This fund will have a target between $1 billion and $1.5 billion and a mandate to invest in energy assets, circular economy, data centers and fiber, and industrial decarbonization.
A couple of infrastructure debt professionals have also recently resurfaced at established private credit managers in infrastructure debt roles. Viktor Kozel joined AlbaCore Capital as head of infrastructure debt, alongside three of his former team from UBS Asset Management. The manager also recently appointed Joshua Wood from Partners Group as MD and Kylie Gordon from Alcentra as director and head of client services in London, with both supporting the newly established infrastructure debt business.
Similarly, former Patrizia head of infrastructure debt Alexander Waller joined private credit manager Arcmont Asset Management as a partner in the firm’s impact lending strategy, marking Arcmont’s entry into the infrastructure space.
Other, traditionally private credit-focused managers that are expanding their infrastructure debt exposure include Apollo Global Management and Ninety One.
Apollo last year signed a $3 billion partnership with Standard Chartered to provide infrastructure financing to clean energy and transition assets globally. As part of this, it announced an agreement to invest up to £4.5 billion with EDF to finance projects in the UK, most notably the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
Large managers tapping into the mid-market space
As mid-market deals are increasingly making up the bulk of total infrastructure deal-making, large-cap managers will continue to pursue a share of this market. This will pose challenges for smaller mid-market players and new entrants alike.
Deals in this segment are underpinned by strong and persistent megatrends—mostly digitalization and energy transition—and give managers greater scope for expansion and incremental growth across assets while maximizing exit opportunities at a time when liquidity and portfolio flexibility are top priorities.
Stonepeak, which operates between the mid-market and the large-cap space, is having considerable success with a fund series dedicated purely to this market segment. After closing Stonepeak Opportunities Fund I well above target at $3.2 billion in August 2024, the manager launched the second iteration in September 2025 and is already on track to exceed the $3.5 billion target by the first half of 2026.
Industry heavyweights Global Infrastructure Partners and Macquarie Asset Management are also tapping into the mid-market deal opportunity.
$12+ billion in capital targeting mid-market infrastructure deals
Macquarie launched its Strategic Opportunities Fund in summer 2024 and is heading towards first close, with an overall target of $1.5 billion–$2 billion. The manager is targeting the top end of the risk-return curve with this fund, pursuing deals with a net IRR of around 20% through mid-market deals across utilities, energy, transportation, digital and waste across North America and Europe.
Global Infrastructure Partners has rebranded the BlackRock mid-market fund series. The first GIP fund, GIP Mid-Market V, has an overall target of $7 billion. This fund will continue BlackRock Global Infrastructure Fund IV’s mandate to invest in digitalization, transportation and logistics assets, targeting net IRR of 10% and a 7% yield.
Keep an eye on southern Europe
Southern European managers are set to gain ground and become more relevant in the infrastructure capital raising environment.
As a result of long-term Brexit effects, coupled with more favorable tax regimes on the continent, industry observers have pointed to Milan and Madrid as locations where fundraising talent is relocating.
17 managers now operating across Milan, Madrid, and Lisbon
Several local players, some with international backing, have emerged in recent years and have made good progress in establishing themselves as infrastructure fundraisers.
Both Italy and Spain are seen as desirable destinations for capital raising as both are poised to play a pivotal role in the energy transition landscape.
Italy has recently announced a government subsidy program—MACSE—to support the rollout of energy storage programs throughout the country, making it appealing for new managers seeking first-mover advantage on that pipeline.
Generali-backed Sosteneo Infrastructure Partners, for instance, was set up in 2023 and recently closed its maiden clean energy infrastructure fund at roughly €700 million including co-investments. As of August 2025, the manager had already successfully deployed 90% of the fund and is back in the market with its second vehicle, targeting €1 billion.
Another recently launched firm, London and Milan-based Vesper Infrastructure, has collected €700 million against an €800 million target on its debut infrastructure fund, with EIF, Generali, Mediobanca and other Italian pension funds and family offices backing the manager. Vesper is pursuing a value-add strategy by targeting majority or control positions in companies operating in energy transition, mobility and logistics, data infrastructure and healthcare-related assets. The manager is eyeing a Madrid office opening to expand its footprint as it grows across Europe.
Compared to Italy, Spain is further behind on government support for energy transition. However, industry observers still see it as a market with high potential for investments in this space. While relatively established managers include Asterion Industrial Partners and Qualitas Energy, some newcomers are also worthy of note.
We expect to see further traditionally non-infrastructure managers launching infrastructure offerings. Two of those are new managers launching out of Spain.
Real estate manager Azora is making its first foray into infrastructure with a vehicle targeting €600 million with a €750 million hard cap. The manager seeks to deploy a strategy investing in greenfield and brownfield opportunities in energy transition, digital and urban infrastructure sectors.
Frontier Renewables, another newcomer, evolved from a developer and recently set up a fund targeting between €500 million and €1 billion in commitments.
