Publications

I had only just started as editor in chief of VBA Journaal when the credit crisis (‘the global financial crisis’) erupted. This event had a huge impact on both my professional life and my personal life. The investment funds that I oversaw were at risk of collapsing, banks were being held afloat with all sorts of buoyancy aids and the media were asking me to explain all this. My children, who were still very young at the time, wondered whether cash machines would continue to dispense money and whether their grandparents’ pensions were safe. My own portfolio halved in value. Through robust government intervention, the problems were controlled relatively quickly.

STABIELE INKOMSTEN DOOR TE INVESTEREN IN VERDUURZAMING EN ENERGIETRANSITIE

Dutch listed companies have, over the past decades, become increasingly engaged with the social and environmental footprints of their activities. This engagement has varied in intensity, with some companies leading international sustainability rankings while others are just getting started. Despite these efforts, it is clear that governments, investors, customers and society at large are demanding more corporate responsibility for global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and human rights abuses.

In today’s environment of volatile macro-economic policies and political swings, demand for investments yielding predictable and attractive stable returns is higher than ever. However, many low-risk instruments such as bonds continue to yield negative inflation-adjusted returns across Europe. Infrastructure may offer investors a balanced solution to manage these challenges. Infrastructure comprises physical assets which provide basic services required for a society to function, such as (toll) roads, electricity grids or power generation. These assets offer highly predictable revenues for multiple reasons; all income is contracted with reliable counterparties, sensitivity to economic cycles is limited as these assets tend to have monopolistic characters due to prohibitive costs of building competition and inflation protection is strong as infrastructure revenues are often linked directly or indirectly to inflation.

Afgelopen jaren heeft hernieuwbare energie een prominente plaats gekregen in de infrastructuurportefeuilles van veel Nederlandse beleggers. Dit is niet alleen het gevolg van een aantrekkelijk rendement-risicoprofiel maar ook vanwege de invulling die met name institutionele beleggers geven aan maatschappelijk verantwoord beleggen (MVB). Deze beleggers hebben ambitieuze doelstellingen op dit gebied geformuleerd en investeringen in hernieuwbare energie verwezenlijken hun bijdrage aan de energietransitie. De energietransitie betreft de overgang van traditionele, fossiele brandstoffen als olie, kolen en gas naar hernieuwbare of duurzame energie. Onder hernieuwbare energie wordt verstaan het opwekken en de productie van elektriciteit door het gebruik van natuurlijke bronnen als zon en wind.