As companies expand their infrastructure investment capabilities, Ardian, a France-headquartered private investment firm managing $192 billion of assets, has announced big fundraise for infrastructure platform.

Ardian has raised $20 billion for its latest flagship infrastructure platform set to invest predominantly in Europe. It is Ardian’s largest infrastructure platform to date, composed of Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI (AIF VI), which reached its hard cap of $13.5 billion, and co-investments alongside the fund. AIF VI is 90 per cent larger than the previous generation, Ardian Infrastructure Fund V (AIF V), demonstrating growing investor interest.

The fund will continue Ardian’s strategy, developed over two decades, of combining an industrial approach with investment expertise across three verticals that are powering the future and supporting Europe’s competitiveness: energy, transport and digital infrastructure.

The fund attracted interest from both existing and new investors across the globe, with commitments from 229 limited partners (LPs) in Europe, North America, APAC and the Middle East, the firm said in a statement. The fund saw the biggest increase in commitments from investors in the US, with the number of US investors more than doubling and accounting for 14 per cent of capital raised, up from $1 billion in AIF V. This comes amid growing US investor appetite for investing in Europe. Asian investors also showed strong interest, accounting for 32 per cent of the capital raised, including many Australian investors for the first time. Among all Asian investors, over one-third are from Greater China, contributing about $1.5 billion in investments, the firm continued.

“More than ever, clients expect from us high absolute returns decorrelated from financial market,” Mathias Burghardt, executive vice-president, CEO of Ardian France and head of infrastructure at Ardian, said. “We have expanded into new geographies while maintaining a clear and selective focus on essential and capital intensive assets in three key sectors: energy, transport and digital infrastructure.”

“The scale and speed of this fundraise highlights not only the market-leading position of Ardian’s Infrastructure team, but also the attractiveness of the asset class, offering resilience in a world that is anything but predictable,” Jan Philipp Schmitz, executive vice-president and head of investor relations at Ardian, added. “We continue to see strong confidence around the world, particularly in European infrastructure as a standout asset class, with a notable increase in interest among investors outside of Europe, especially the US and APAC.”

A number of companies have expanded their infrastructure investment capabilities, for example Guinness Global Investors recently launched a real assets fund covering infrastructure, ranging from electricity generation through to "hybrid" communities for seniors in the US.

After Germany and the EU agreed to hike defence spending, amidst growing geopolitical tensions, BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has also launched its BNP Paribas Europe Strategic Autonomy fund, a European thematic equity fund designed to harness the evolving geopolitical landscape and Europe's growing emphasis on security, resilience, and self-sufficiency. The fund will focus on companies that are benefiting and/or will benefit from structural changes, with an emphasis on the themes of defence, resource independence, industrial resilience, cybersecurity, cloud computing and digital infrastructure.