Macquarie Group’s operational briefing showed some things never change at the Millionaire’s Factory.
You can also bank on Wikramanayake expressing caution about the outlook for the global economy and financial markets.Even when one analyst quite reasonably asked whether a less conservative stance was needed given how well the group’s divisions are performing, Wikramanayake played a straight bat. “There are huge pools of capital, after all the fiscal and monetary stimulus we’ve experienced, that are looking for the sort of investments we’re delivering in real assets – long-dated, capital-protective, defensive, long-duration investments, to match people’s pension and retiree money and even state money.”
The first is the division’s expertise in the networks that transport energy commodities, such as gas pipelines, power grids and storage facilities, which in no small part comes from its role as an infrastructure customer, including leasing physical assets in power and gas to transport energy. The second is financing physical assets, particularly in shipping. The third is providing support to infrastructure projects and providers, including risk management, capital and financing services.