JLIF laments lack of dealflow

John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) has seen an increase in the value of its portfolio in the first nine months of 2017 despite a “lack of dealflow” in the UK PPP market.

The firm’s portfolio value grew 5.5% to £1.22bn on an underlying basis by the end of September, with net asset value reaching £1.22bn.

“Overall, the portfolio continues to perform well, with distributions remaining strong in the third quarter,” JLIF stated.

With assets in the UK representing about 71% of JLIF’s portfolio, the group warned that the market “remains competitive in all mature jurisdictions” as most projects in the UK and parts of Europe are in the hands of long-term investors.

The US, Canada and Australia also remain competitive due to the level of funding for new investments. Developer John Laing has recently increased its commitments following investments in US projects.

JLIF brushed off comments from the Labour Party to bring in-house existing PFI contracts, saying: “In the event that all its UK projects were voluntarily terminated by each and every local public sector counterparty, JLIF would receive compensation equating to approximately 86% of its UK portfolio value.”

JLIF has recently signed an agreement with John Laing Group to acquire interests in five availability-based UK PPPs.