IJGlobal: Live 2019

8:00AM Networking Coffee and Refreshments

8:45AM Chairperson’s introduction

8:50AM IJGlobal’s analysis of the global market: Indispensable data for the world’s investors and financiers

Exclusive IJGlobal data, presented interactively by our team of experts from the largest database in the industry. Our expert editors delve deeper into the biggest energy and infrastructure finance deals and their implications. By tracking projects throughout the lifecycle, IJGlobal provides detailed information on financial structure, policy, pricing and key players influencing transactions and trends. IJGlobal: Live brings this direct to you.

9:10AM Panel: How could core-plus infrastructure develop into its own asset class to rival traditional infrastructure?

• Where might core-plus transport present opportunities for infrastructure funds given unproven revenue models?

• How far does mitigating asset risk through active operational involvement enhance investor comfort outside of traditional infrastructure sectors?  

• Is core plus (and core plus-plus!) an appropriate focus – given varied risk/return and investment horizons – for institutional investors who perhaps expect less business risk from the infrastructure allocation?

• Where investors were originally attracted to government-backed  or regulated cash flows does the changing nature of risk and difference in stakeholders warrant the revaluation of the asset class?

• How will investors respond? 

9:50AM Panel: The secondary market: M&A in focus, as a response to global volatility

• When is it worthwhile to participate in an auction?  
• What are the key challenges of auctions and how are they best managed? 
• M&A in political uncertainty- are there asset types that are best avoided? 
• What are the advantages of investing in mid- to end-of-life assets? 

10:30AM Pillars of project finance credit risk analysis

• What are the 3 most important points to correctly analyse project finance credit risk? 

• Should you do PD or expected loss analysis? 

• Can you account for black-swan risk in your analysis? 

• Is your yield assessment sound? Are you sure you are not under water? 

• Are all mezzanine exposures too risky? Can they ever be investment grade? 

• How can project finance equity funds be analysed? 

11:00AM Networking and refreshments

11:30AM The influence of new technology on energy and infrastructure finance

• Impact of technology on the macro-economic energy transition 
• Ubiquity of renewable energy and the economics of energy storage 
• Alternative and disruptive forms of financing energy and infrastructure projects 
• Use of data to inform and quantify risks of energy and infrastructure finance

12:10PM Infrastructure in the age of geo-economics: financial foundations and ‘great game’ superstructure

President Trump (Indo-Pacific Vision) and Chairman Xi (New Silk Road) have turned infrastructure investment into a central item of their domestic and foreign policy planks – and many regional powers (Brazil, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan…) have adopted similarly ambitious objectives. They all seek to attract long-term (foreign) institutional investors willing to invest in complex energy and transport assets/projects alongside state-controlled actors. This coincides with the prevalence of low interest rates (QE) and the accelerating “secular quest for yields”.  Pension funds and sovereign wealth institutions will be courted like never before… But can they truly withstand the liquidity, legal & regulatory, country-risk and political shocks that may lie ahead? 

12:30PM Industrial Power Supply with Renewables: a compelling business case?

• Industry case studies with a focus on Africa  

• Technical and financial risks 

• Are returns better than in public renewable auctions? 

• what is the right phase to invest? 

12:30PM The Leadership Council: Invitation only

The aim of the council is to bring together the most influential leaders from procurement and public sector institutions from around the world to share knowledge and best practice enabling infrastructure financing and development globally.  

Members will be able to expand their network with peers and other public sector officials, learn from the challenges and successes others have faced and promote their project pipelines. 

The Leadership council will be held under Chatham House Rule.  

1:00PM Networking lunch and 1-to1 Meetings

2:30PM 1-to-1 Meetings

Private one-on-one meetings arranged by request

3:15PM 1-to-1 Meetings

Private one-on-one meetings arranged by request 

2:30PM Panel: Investment in Central Asia and deal pipeline

• Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are taking the lead - How effective are their recently adopted  legislative frameworks for the implementation of infrastructure and energy projects   

• Are the other CARs following this lead –   what are their specific challenges 

• How attractive is Central Asia for foreign investment, what are the stumbling blocks for investors - how can this be improved 

• Go West: What is the realisable potential of Central Asia for The Belt and Road Initiative? 

3:15PM Panel: Region Focus: Trends in Middle East PPP and Project Finance

• Involvement of PPP Units and Labs
• Changes to PPP related laws and to laws around privatisation
• Current state assessment
• Trends in Green Bonds and Green Sukuk

2:30PM Panel: The changing role of banks in responding to political risk in infrastructure finance

• Catalysts of change- how and why is the nature of risk changing? 

• How have banks adapted to minimize the impact of regulatory risk on their loans? 

• How have multinational banks responded to economic nationalism? 

• How important are development banks in ensuring social infrastructure projects in politically unstable countries are completed? 

• Are banks responding to political and economic risks in an age of global uncertainty, fast enough for investors and developers? 

3:15PM Panel: Debt fund strategies

Investment in infrastructure debt funds has proliferated in recent years and offers an alternative investment strategy: 

• What are the different types of infrastructure debt fund strategies? 

• What types of cash yields are available for investors and what are the associated risks? 

• Will the low rate environment impact investor demand? 

• How do sponsors compare the institutional funding option compared to banks? 

• Are there different execution risks? 

4:00PM Networking and refreshments

4:30PM Panel: LATAM- developing opportunity

• As Bolsonaro and AMLO settle in, what has been the change in relative attractiveness between Brazil and Mexico over the past year? 
• What trends have emerged from current challenges to financing Latin American projects? 
• What are the dynamics of the region’s infra debt markets and how have they evolved? 
• How do financing options differ from those that are available in developed markets?
• What is the impact of increasing Asian influence?
• Which countries offer the best options for European and US players looking to deploy capital? 

5:15PM Chairperson’s wrap- up of Day 1

5:20PM Networking Cocktail Reception with Tapas

8:00AM Registration and coffee

8:50AM How exposed are you to rising political & lifecycle risks?

Political, regulatory and a host of other risks fluctuate strongly within the lifecycles of infrastructure projects. The results are "risk shocks" and negative cash flows which could have been mitigated if specifically calculated and hedged in advance. We look at an approach to more accurately calculate and mitigate these risks for infrastructure. 

9:20AM Chairperson’s welcome back for day 2

9:30AM Extended Roundtables

These discussion roundtables will run simultaneously, as platforms to engage with peers more personally. Meet with the experts to identify leads, discuss opportunities, manage risk and solve problems. Roundtables will switch after 40 minutes, with each attendee meeting two separate groups to maximise your access to the experts. Roundtable hosts will then close the roundtables each offering a summary of the key points discussed. 

Reducing risk and increasing bankability in merchant PPAs

Host: Javier Huergo Cruzado, Chief Investment Officer, FRV

Investing in the energy transition: which renewable energy markets offer the most attractive opportunities? 

Host: Alistair Perkins, Head of Infrastructure & Project Finance, NN Investment Partners B.V 

The fiscal benefits for the grantor if the project is properly selected and managed 

Host: Vincent Piron, Chief Financial Officer & Knowledge Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Foundation and Deputy Leader of Long-Term Financing, FIEC 

Developing Eastern Europe- opportunities in a changing region 

Host: Tomas Janeba, President, Czech Infrastructure Association 

How can Government procuring bodies shape PPP infrastructure projects to make them more appealing to institutional investors? 

Host: James Campbell, PPP Project Director, Bermuda Airport Authority

The Belt and Road Initiative: progress, recap and rethink 

Host: Victoria Westcott, Partner, Reed Smith 

11:00AM Networking refreshments and activities

11:30AM 1-to-1 Meetings

Private one-on-one meetings arranged by request 

12:15PM 1-to-1 Meetings

Private one-on-one meetings arranged by request 

11:30AM Panel: Infrastructure as a rising asset class- how do strong market prospects compare to alternative assets?

• With aggregate capital raised breaking records for the second year running, but the number of funds falling, what predictions can be made from this rise and concentration? 

• Are there greater prospects in infrastructure finance compared to competing asset classes? 

• With infrastructure rising, can we expect bullish market entrants on the horizon, and what effect would this have on the market? 

• In a world full of political risk, how do Infrastructure’s economic, environmental, political and societal agents of change, compare to agents of change in other asset classes?  

12:15PM Where to look for projects: opportunities inside vs outside Europe

• With lower returns on offer in Europe, where else are investors motivated to explore acquisitions?

• With European infrastructure fund dry powder soaring, which direction is European investment heading?

• Which investment strategy is best: entering developed, emerging or frontier markets? 

• Similarly, specialist vs. generalist, and global vs. regional? 

• What can the public sector do to mobilise [and steer] investments? 

• How vital is geography in diversifying investment portfolios to deliver opportunity while reducing risk? 

• Building a market beyond subsidy: How do global investments and opportunities compare? 

1:00PM Chairperson’s closing speech

11:30AM Debate: The risks of moving beyond the state

• What amount of finance and development of 5G, Smart Cities and Core-Plus-Plus projects will rely exclusively on private investment, and how will this affect the influence of the state? 

• What types of regulation encourage energy and infrastructure finance to transition further away from state subsidies, and where have we seen evidence of this in 2019?

• What political and reputational consequences have developers and governments faced from novel projects going wrong?

• Can the merchant risk profile funders seem to be accepting for renewables be transferred to transport or telecoms 

12:15PM Panel: The mainstreaming of ESG investment, the role of infrastructure investors and its growing influence on finance

• How has Environmental, Social and Governance factoring become mainstream, and how has this affected the infrastructure investment market? 

• What risks and losses can occur from failure to fulfil ESG criteria? 

• What are the future growth prospects and recent themes in the green bond market? 

• How do ESG factors drive growth, market share and profitability? 

• Is this good news for social investment products and developments?

• Are ESG questions beginning to weigh heavily on the allocations made by institutional investors? How are the fund managers responding? 

1:00PM Chairperson’s closing speech

1:10PM Networking Lunch