INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: BUSINESS AREA
“If you go through the whole value
At the fund level, there are marketing, client
relationship type skill sets required. Th en there
is the investment team themselves, and they are
chain around infrastructure, it goes
almost like mini-businesses, where you have to
have fund management and portfolio
from people with legal structuring
construction skills,” explains Danny Latham,
head of infrastructure investment in Europe for
First State Investments.
backgrounds, to the products
To build a successful career, candidates must
understand the variety of sectors within
themselves and the funds they’re
infrastructure, as well as become linked into
networks to originate and source transactions,
he says. “Once you have identifi ed an
actually investing in. At the fund level,
opportunity, then you have to be successful in
making an acquisition, which is very important.
there are marketing, client relationship
Th en you have to manage it through the various
phases of origination, execution, and
management. To do origination and execution,
type skill sets required”
people tend to have a combination of
investment banking and legal expertise. Th e
Danny Latham, Europe for First State Investments
transaction side tends to see people with an
M&A background.”
Infrastructure can be accessed through both
listed and unlisted funds. Th e current size of the
global listed infrastructure market is over $2.1
trillion, according to Standard & Poors. S&P,
ROBBERT MEIJERING which has its own Global Infrastructure Index,
unsurprisingly argues that listed infrastructure
Title: Manager – Infrastructure
off ers stable yields that are higher than the
Current employer:
broad stock market and lower volatility which
Macquarie Capital
easily fi t into a liability-matching framework.
Previous employers:
ABN Amro Bank
Others believe that unlisted pooled funds, many
University: University of Amsterdam
of which are structured as limited partnerships,
Degrees: Masters in Business
provide the best returns.
Cg
Economics
Professional qualifi cations:
CFA Level III candidate
How do you think the role you’re in now will
What attracted you to this career path?
change over time?
The combination of fi nance, legal and negotiation skills required make it a good
As project sponsors and fi nancial advisors, I
place for someone with a bit of entrepreneurial fl air.
think the role and skills set will not change
much over time. However the sort of projects
What are the major challenges you face in your position?
and the way fi nancing is structured will vary
The external challenges are related to the availability and cost of capital and the
with the political and economical climate. This,
willingness of governments to work with private parties in the development and
in turn, might have an impact on the
management of infrastructure assets and projects. The environment I work in is
attractiveness of being in the project sponsor
project oriented and the process’ can be very lengthy (often more than two years).
space or more in the fi nancial advisory space.
Therefore a certain amount of stamina and a willingness to learn before
embarking on a particular type of work is essential.
Do you have advice for someone intending to
pursue the same career path?
Are there certain skills you would consider useful for your job?
An engineering background and/or legal
Negotiation, commercial and management skills become very important after a
background are a good starting point for
few years spent modelling and number crunching.
careers in project and infrastructure fi nance.
WWW.CFAUK.ORG CAREERS GUIDE 2009 27
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