Chantal Mazzacurati, head of the alternative management and private equity division and a member of the executive committee at BNPIP, said: “Infrastructure funds are an excellent way to diversify a traditional portfolio. In addition to performance, which has low correlation to other asset classes, infrastructure provides exposure to quasi-monopolistic sectors with high barriers to entry, good cash flow, and which provide a hedge against inflation.”

Paris-based Antin IP is an independently managed, AMF-approved asset management company. BNPIP owns 40 per cent of the firm via its BNPPAM Group holding company. The remaining 60 per cent is owned by Antin IP’s managing partners.

The first fund will invest in non-listed assets and will target an IRR of 15 per cent. With a long-term investment horizon (10 years), this fund is mainly aimed at institutional and sophisticated investors who wish to optimise their portfolios’ risk/return profile. It will go for four infrastructure sub-sectors: transport, energy and environment, telecoms and social infrastructure.