Themen:
Insights June 17, 2026

Infrastructure: Scaling for a future-proof world

Authors: Ramona Rueckbeil CFA®, Head of Investment Strategy for Alternative Investments - Michael Blumenroth, Senior Investment Strategist - Shreenidhi Jayaram, Investment Strategist - Elena Ahonen, Investment Strategist

Key takeaways 

  • As a long-lived, physical asset with some features of a public good, infrastructure is structurally important for an economy, contributing to its productivity, energy supply, resilience, and citizens’ quality of life.
  • Rapidly rising electricity demand due to unprecedented AI data centre build-ups in recent years has exposed the need for grid expansion, storage, cooling and asset repurposing.
    Infrastructure demand is likely to remain resilient amid elevated energy prices and increased geopolitical instability, driven by higher fiscal spending, a recent shift in strategic priorities, and structural investment needs.
  • Infrastructure requires three main types of raw materials: core construction materials, battery metals, and rare earths. Each group shows unique supply and demand characteristics. Infrastructure investments have gained traction in both public and private markets in recent years as the global gap for infrastructure financing has widened, and the need for infrastructure investment has increased.

Infrastructure has regained prominence in the investment agenda. From AI-driven power demand and grid modernisation to geopolitical resilience and critical raw material supply, the sector sits at the intersection of several powerful structural trends. As financing gaps widen and strategic priorities shift, infrastructure offers a compelling lens through which to assess long-term economic transformation – along with the investment opportunities it may create.

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