Asset managers team up to launch new digital infrastructure fund

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Robeco and Gravis have joined forces to make the Robeco Gravis Digital Infrastructure Income Fund globally available.

Asset managers Robeco and Gravis have announced the launch of their Digital Infrastructure Income Fund, the first example of these two ORIX group companies collaborating on one fund.

The fund invests in stock market-listed companies, which are best-in-class pure-play owners of digital infrastructure. It will focus on growth and income, as well as offering stable inflation protection characteristics.

Robeco and Gravis combined forces to gain from each other’s strengths. Gravis is a UK-based boutique fund manager, specialising in real assets such as infrastructure and real estate. Together with Robeco’s global distribution footprint and knowledge of creating Luxembourg entities and structuring, the two firms are now offering their clients a global investment opportunity with a long-term horizon and are aiming to deliver stable, predictable cash flows.

Established in 2021, the original strategy is one of the few worldwide based on investments in the enablers of the digital economy. The new fund offers a diversified portfolio of securities in companies which own physical infrastructure assets vital to the digital economy. This includes data centres, telecom towers, fiber optic cable companies, e-commerce fulfilment centres and logistics warehouses supporting e-commerce. All companies are listed and located in developed nations, with an attractive combination of income and growth-oriented returns.

The Robeco Gravis Digital Infrastructure Income Fund is a sub-fund of the Robeco Capital Growth Funds SICAV and Article 8-classified under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The fund will be managed by a London-based team at Gravis.

Ivo Frielink, member of the executive committee and head of strategic product and business development at Robeco, said: “We’re excited about this collaboration between our two ORIX group companies. This builds on our ongoing journey of uncovering new opportunities for investors and allows our clients to benefit from this fund’s attractive inflation protection characteristics. This kind of investment can withstand or even thrive amid elevated inflation by adjusting rents to counter price increases.”

Phil Kent, CEO of Gravis Capital Management, added: “The digital infrastructure income strategy is a prime example of the strength of Gravis, being a first mover in new sectors, with innovative products that meet the needs of investors. We’re thrilled that we’ve been able to work with Robeco on this project, tapping into its vast experience of global products and distribution to offer this new fund to European clients.”