Morgan Stanley Investment Management announced today that the Morgan Stanley Global Infrastructure Fund1 – the largest infrastructure U.S. mutual fund designed to provide exposure to the growing universe of publicly traded infrastructure securities – has re-opened to new U.S. investors. MSIM intends to make a similar strategy available to international investors later in 2009.
“We expect the massive investment in infrastructure – resulting from urbanization, aging infrastructure in developed countries and demand for new infrastructure in developing countries – will continue to create significant investment opportunities in companies around the world that build, operate, own or provide services to infrastructure assets,” says Michael Nolan, Managing Director and lead Portfolio Manager of the Global Infrastructure Fund.
“To stimulate their economies, governments in countries around the world such as Brazil, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Australia are accelerating implementation of infrastructure projects. In the United States, President-Elect Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will invest in priorities like energy and education, health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep the country strong and competitive in the 21st century.”
“Gaining exposure to publicly traded infrastructure companies via the Morgan Stanley Global Infrastructure Fund allows investors access to this attractive growth story with lower capital requirements, greater diversification potential, daily liquidity and transparency,” said Randy Takian, Managing Director and Head of Morgan Stanley Retail & Intermediary Distribution in the U.S. “As we continue to grow our product line, we remain focused on delivering innovative, actively managed solutions to our investors. We believe infrastructure is one of several alternative investment opportunities that can enhance our investors’ portfolio efficiency, increasing return per unit of risk.”
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