The Goldilocks Asset Class: Why Financial Advisors Are Betting Big on Private Infrastructure

New ISQ OpenInfra Index finds three quarters of financial advisors expect to increase private infrastructure exposure by 2027 and prefer specialized managers to achieve this allocation.

I Squared Capital, a leading independent global infrastructure investment manager, today released findings from its inaugural ISQ OpenInfra Index, a survey of hundreds of financial advisors working with alternative investments. The survey found that private infrastructure has quietly become one of the most sought-after allocations in the private wealth market, evolving from a niche diversifier to a core portfolio allocation.

Nearly half of advisors (47%) said clients currently allocate 6% to 10% of their private markets AUM to infrastructure, and a majority (75%) expect their clients to increase allocations to private infrastructure by 2027; an equal share (75%) say they prefer to work with specialized infrastructure managers to build that exposure.

The appetite for greater infrastructure exposure via specialist managers reflects a broader shift in how advisors are positioning infrastructure within portfolios, with advisors increasingly viewing infrastructure not simply as a defensive or income-oriented allocation, but as a long-term growth opportunity tied to major structural trends reshaping the global economy.

The study also found that financial advisors most commonly view private infrastructure as a growth driver (35%), followed by diversification (32%) and income generation (17%), signaling that infrastructure is increasingly being used for capital appreciation, not just stability or yield.

"This is a Goldilocks moment for infrastructure," said Gautam Bhandari, co-founder, Global Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner of I Squared Capital. "Private equity exits are slowing, the private credit market is facing redemptions, and the public markets are riding on a handful of stocks. Infrastructure sits in a rare middle ground that can offer equity upside, credit-like yield and real assets with inflation-linked revenues."

Bhandari continued, "Set against a backdrop of indebted governments and the urgent need for investment in AI and essential services, we believe that we are in the early stages of a global infrastructure supercycle - a clear investment opportunity for individual investors."

Other Insights from Financial Advisor Survey

The top trends driving client interest in infrastructure investments include the growth of digital infrastructure, such as data centers and artificial intelligence (50%), long-term structural themes such as population growth, urbanization and reshoring (44%), and inflation, alongside broader macroeconomic uncertainty (41%). These dynamics are reinforcing infrastructure's relevance across a range of portfolio objectives.

Despite rising interest, advisors identified several barriers that are preventing clients from increasing infrastructure exposure, including liquidity concerns and limited product availability (both 48%), policy or regulatory uncertainty, and a limited understanding of the asset class (both 44%).

Irina Zilbergleyt, Global Head of Distribution and Product Strategy for OpenInfra, said, "Advisors who are able to look beyond headline areas like digital infrastructure are better positioned to capture the full opportunity set, particularly as power, grid modernization and energy demand drive the next phase of growth. As infrastructure moves from a niche allocation to a core component of client portfolios, we're encouraged to see advisors and their clients increasingly recognizing its potential to provide diversification, long-term growth exposure and resilience across market cycles.

I Squared's ISQ OpenInfra platform is designed to bring global institutional-quality middle market infrastructure investments to the private wealth market, providing financial advisors and their clients with access to diversified infrastructure opportunities across power and utilities, transportation and logistics, and digital, environmental and social infrastructure.

To learn more about OpenInfra, visit https://openinfra.isquaredcapital.com/.

Methodology
I Squared's OpenInfra Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 250 financial advisors who spend time working in alternative investments, between April 7 and April 21, 2026, using an email invitation and an online survey.

About I Squared I Squared Capital is a leading global infrastructure investor managing $55 billion in assets. We build and scale essential infrastructure businesses that deliver critical services to millions of people worldwide. Our portfolio includes over 100 companies operating in over 100 countries and spanning sectors such as energy, utilities, digital infrastructure, transport, environmental and social infrastructure. Headquartered in Miami, our team of over 360 professionals is based across offices in Abu Dhabi, London, Munich, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei. Learn more at https://www.isquaredcapital.com.

Disclaimers

This document does not constitute advice or a recommendation or offer to sell or a solicitation to deal in any security or financial product. It is provided for information purposes only. Investing involves risk, loss of principal is possible. Specific investments described herein do not represent all investment decisions made by ISQ. The reader should not assume that investment decisions identified and discussed were or will be profitable. Specific investment advice references provided herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily representative of investments that will be made in the future.