Expanding the role of domestic capital\u00a0<\/p>\n
Infrastructure investment \u2013 both in Italy and further afield \u2013 also presents an increasingly compelling opportunity for domestic investors. Italy boasts an enormous private wealth market, with its private banking sector managing more than \u20ac1.3 trillion in assets.10<\/a>\u00a0Historically, those assets have been underinvested, says Raffaella Cooper, Managing Director in Macquarie Asset Management, with large allocations to cash and government bonds.<\/p>\n Now, however, supportive European-level regulation is helping to open Italy\u2019s private wealth and retail markets to a range of investment opportunities hitherto only accessible to institutions. UCI Part II and European Long-Term Investment Fund regulations enable Macquarie Asset Management to offer these investors access to, among other things, collective investment vehicles that provide exposure to infrastructure in Italy and beyond, Cooper says.<\/p>\n This promises a source of domestic funding for Italy\u2019s ongoing national priorities, and access for investors to long-term infrastructure assets that offer diversification, capital appreciation and inflation protection, she adds.<\/p>\n Looking ahead \u2013 Italy\u2019s next stage of growth<\/p>\n For Macquarie and its investors, Italy presents a significant opportunity. A positive political and economic outlook, and the need to develop the country\u2019s infrastructure offer attractive tailwinds.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain very confident in Italy\u2019s energy story, the digital infrastructure theme, the transport sector and the social and environmental needs,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cIt\u2019s about remaining disciplined, trying to find pockets of value for our funds and our investors,\u201d she says, \u201cand providing on-the-ground delivery, over the long-term, to ensure those investments succeed.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n