QIC Grows North America & Europe Infrastructure Business

Posted on 10/01/2014

The Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), an Australian government-owned asset manager, is ramping up its infrastructure investing program. The Brisbane-based organization, which caters to the institutional investor community, has opened a new office in New York City and appointed Vittorio Lacagnina as director to head up infrastructure capital formation efforts throughout North America and Europe.

“Vittorio’s appointment reflects our upbeat outlook for infrastructure investing. An increasing number of governments around the world are encouraging private sector infrastructure investment and Australia is poised for an estimated A$135 billion wave of energy and transport infrastructure privatisations over the next three to five years,” said Brian Delaney, QIC’s head of global clients and marketing, in a press release. “Institutional investors are thinking beyond traditional listed assets and expressing growing interest in global infrastructure. Vittorio will be pivotal to deepening our US and European relationships and driving our business development efforts.”

Prior to joining QIC, Lacagnina was an investment director for SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners where he oversaw global fundraising and co-investment. While working as a senior originator for Babcock & Brown, he became involved in a management buyout that led to the formation of SteelRiver. At Babcock & Brown, Lacagnina spearheaded infrastructure co-investment in North America. He started his career in Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking division and now has over 15 years of experience.

QIC’s track record in global infrastructure investing spans 8 years. The firm currently holds 11 global direct investments across transport, utilities and public-private partnership assets, totaling A$ 5.1 billion (US$ 4.5 billion) in infrastructure investments, as of 30 June 2014. It manages more than A$ 70 billion (US$ 61.1 billion) of assets for over 90 clients across Australia, Europe, Asia, Middle East and the US, including sovereign wealth funds, pensions and insurance companies.

Get News, People, and Transactions, Delivered to Your Inbox