First State wins first infrastructure mandate in North America

First State Investments has been awarded infrastructure mandates by institutional investor Russell Investments worth over half a billion dollars.

The group has been included on Russell Investment's global infrastructure multi-manager platform and has secured mandates across the US, Canada and also Australia.

The new mandates, which will be run by the group's Citywire A-rated manager Peter Meany who manages its First State Global Listed Infrastructure  fund, are the infrastructure team's first in North American and the firm's overall largest win in the region.

Commenting on the win, Peter Meany said since the launch of the Ucits-compliant fund in 2008, markets have been impacted by periods of volatility and uncertainty.

'The outlook for global listed infrastructure remains positive,' said Meany. 'The sector offers structural growth, real income and lower volatility. Our fund has seen increasing demand from investors wanting to move cash back into equity markets without adding significant risk.'

Since the launch of the First State Global Listed Infrastructure fund in July 2008, it has posted returns of 25.06% while its Citywire benchmark, UBS Global Infrastructure & Utilities 50-50 TR, has risen 18.76% in euro terms.