AMP brings infrastructure fund to NZ

The fund, which has about half a billion dollars under management, is creating a PIE unit trust in New Zealand that will offer a tax advantage for local investors compared to investing in the fund via Australia.

AMP Capital head of distribution George Carter said raising $300-$500 million from New Zealand investors over the next five years would be considered a “good outcome” for the fund; many investors already have exposure through AMP’s KiwiSaver scheme.

Listed infrastructure funds are still relatively new, having originated in Australia in 2006, and according to AMP head of global listed infrastructure Tim Humphreys these funds only account for about 2.5% of the $2 trillion listed infrastructure market.

However, he said the word “infrastructure” is problematic for investors and financial advisers because it has a number of different definitions.