Investment - Articles - Despite Brexit investors still believe in UK real economy

 The 2019 edition of the EDHEC Infrastructure Institute survey, conducted on behalf of the G20, shows that Brexit has barely impacted the UK's top investment destination status for infrastructure investors.

 Over 300 respondents, including 130 asset owners such as large pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds, representing USD10 trillion in assets under management, took the 2019 EDHEC/GIH survey that closed last week. This is the largest, most representative survey of infrastructure investors globally.

 Despite the looming Brexit deadline on 29 March 2019, respondents ranked the UK as the third market with the most potential for private infrastructure investment in the next five years (after the US and Australia and ahead of France) out of more than 20 advanced infrastructure markets. The UK ranked second in the 2018 edition of the survey.

 Frederic Blanc-Brude, director of EDHECinfra said: "This is a very strong signal: long-term investors continue to believe in the credibility of the UK infrastructure sector, the viability of the British economy in the medium term, and the creditworthiness of its government."

 He added: "Perhaps 'no deal' is a good deal for infrastructure investors. This survey combines the opinions of large, sophisticated institutional investors that have to take a view on post-Brexit UK. Together, the asset owners alone represent more than 10% of global assets under management. The UK has long been one of the most active markets for infrastructure investment and represents one third of the EDHECinfra Broad Market Equity Index Universe of unlisted infrastructure companies."

 The 2019 EDHEC/Global Infrastructure Hub Investor Survey will be published in April 2019.