Citi Alternative Investments has announced the creation of a new investment centre, Citi Infrastructure Investors, which aims to capitalise on both the growing need for infrastructure inve
Citi Alternative Investments has announced the creation of a new investment centre, Citi Infrastructure Investors, which aims to capitalise on both the growing need for infrastructure investment around the world and the increased private sector involvement in the infrastructure sector.
CII, which will manage equity investments in infrastructure assets and oversee a management company focused on the operation of these investments, will be co-headed by Juan Bejar and Felicity Gates, each of whom has more than 15 years of experience in direct infrastructure investing and managing infrastructure assets. Colin Campbell, J.G. Duthie-Jackson and Michael Froman have also joined CII as managing directors.
‘This new initiative will greatly complement the management of our existing asset classes – private equity, hedge funds, real estate and structured products,’ says Lew Kaden, interim chief executive of Citi Alternative Investments.
‘Juan, Felicity and the rest of the team bring unmatched capabilities to this sector, including deep experience in making principal investments in this area and in enhancing the operational efficiencies of the underlying infrastructure assets.’
Bejar, who will be based in London and head the asset management company, Citi Infrastructure Management, joins CII from Ferrovial Infrastructure in Spain, where he was chief executive. He was also executive vice-chairman of Cintra, general manager of Ferrovial Airports and non-executive director of BAA. During his 16 years with the Ferrovial Group, he also served as chief executive of Cintra.
Working with Ferrovial’s senior management, Bejar led the GBP16.3bn acquisition of UK airports operator BAA and other landmark infrastructure transactions, including the 407 ETR toll road concession in Canada, the sale of 40 per cent of Cintra to Macquarie Infrastructure Group in 2001, the EUR1.5bn Cintra IPO in 2004 and the award of the first three toll road privatizations in the US, the Chicago Skyway, Indiana Toll Road and TTC-35 in Texas.
Gates, who will be based in New York, joins CII from Deutsche Bank, where she was head of Rreef’s North America infrastructure business. She began her 20-year career in infrastructure in Australia, where she worked for Macquarie Bank and served as head of infrastructure for Rreef before being asked to set up its North America and European infrastructure funds as global chief investment officer.
She managed infrastructure portfolios on behalf of pension funds for the last 13 years and has played central roles in several landmark transactions in Australia, including the AUD1.5bn United Energy privatisation and subsequent IPO, and the AUD1.3bn Melbourne airport privatisation.
Citi Alternative Investments manages a wide range of products including private equity, hedge funds, real estate and structured products, and manages capital on behalf of Citi as well as third-party institutional and high net worth investors. At the end of March, CAI had approximately USD53.7bn of unlevered assets under management, ranking CAI among the world’s largest alternative asset managers.
