Inflation linked infrastructure revenues and income-streams to hedge against rising prices.
WHY GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Reasons to add global infrastructure to client portfolios
Infrastructure investing offers more than thematic exposure—it has consistently delivered strategic benefits across market cycles and supports portfolio diversification and resilience.
Built-In Inflation Protection
Stable Income
Consistent cash flows from essential-service businesses to reinforce portfolios in volatile markets.
Portfolio Diversification
Lowly correlated to traditional assets to provide diversified streams of income and growth.
Access to Transformational Growth
Tap into key megatrends shaping the future of the global economy.
What Are Infrastructure Assets?
Infrastructure assets are physical assets that provide an essential service to society. These are the services we use and interact with every day. For instance, we use gas, water and electricity to carry out our daily activities and infrastructure such as airports, rail and roads help to move people and goods from location to location.
In particular, we want to focus on two categories of infrastructure assets that can generate income for investors:
Regulated Assets
- Regulated with stable cashflows, high income and low GDP exposure
- Examples: poles, wires, pipes.
User Pays Assets
- Growth assets with lower income but leveraged to GDP, and affected by consumer demand
- Examples: roads, rail, ports, airports etc.
WHY INVEST NOW
Why now: the global infrastructure super-cycle
There’s a clear window of opportunity.
Multiple secular megatrends are converging to drive a global infrastructure renaissance that’s still in its early stages. Next-generation infrastructure needs are broad, urgent, and backed by unprecedented levels of capital investment.
ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Strategy lets UK investors invest in the global infrastructure transformation while remaining grounded in the proven investment principles that have helped build and protect wealth for generations.
"Infrastructure is entering a pivotal era where global demand will drive trillions in annual investment, unlocking decades of growth opportunities across multiple sectors.”
Charles Hamieh, Portfolio Manager, Sydney, Australia
Three key megatrends driving modern infrastructure
- Electricity Demand
- Infrastructure Resilience & Adaptation
- Energy Transition
Electricity Demand
The opportunity
Structural growth in global electricity demand driven by datacentres, AI, and accelerating industrial activity is driving record investment in generation, transmission, and storage capacity.
How we’re pursuing it
- Core foundation of regulated utilities positioned for sustained load growth.
- Select investments across transmission, generation, and midstream assets providing secure and stable energy supply.
- Emphasis on businesses with visible earnings, cash-flow, and dividend growth linked to rising demand.
Spotlight holding
Entergy
- A central enabler of the US Gulf Coast’s electrification and grid modernisation.
- Benefits from surging structural electricity demand supported by regulated capex (data centres, Sun Belt industrialisation, storm resiliency).
- Attractive combination of steady dividends and long-term growth.
Infrastructure Resilience & Adaptation
The opportunity
Evolving environmental and operational risks are driving long-term investment to strengthen and modernise critical infrastructure, supporting durable, regulator-approved capital spending.
How we’re pursuing it
- Targeting regulated network operators undertaking climate resilience and system-hardening upgrades.
- Investing in utilities with approved resiliency capex programmes supported by regulators.
- Emphasizing assets with long-duration cash flows tied to mandated infrastructure investment.
Spotlight holding
Severn Trent
- Leading UK water utility making multi-billion pound infra upgrades.
- Aligned with UK environmental, net-zero, and infra priorities.
- Delivering strong, predictable, regulated returns.
Energy Transition
The opportunity
The global shift toward decarbonization is driving sustained, regulator-backed investment in renewable generation, grid expansion, and electrification infrastructure.
How we’re pursuing it
- Investing in regulated utilities expanding transmission and distribution networks to connect renewable generation.
- Allocating to companies developing and operating EV charging and electrification infrastructure.
- Focusing on regulated capital programmes that support predictable returns and asset-base growth.
Spotlight holding
E.ON
- Investing tens of billions of euros to modernize and expand power grids that enable renewables, electrification, and decarbonization across Europe.
- One of Europe’s largest utilities with broad networks that underpin the transition of power, transport, heating, and industry — not just individual projects.
- A core enabler of the energy transition, providing stable, regulated returns while financing massive decarbonization investment.
WHY THIS STRATEGY?
Why Franklin ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Strategy
The ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Strategy provides investors with access to essential infrastructure assets through a diversified portfolio of global listed companies. By focusing on businesses that generate stable, inflation-linked revenues and benefit from long-term structural demand, the strategy seeks to deliver resilient income and portfolio diversification supported across all market environments.
- Optimized for inflation
- A unique approach
- Anchored for stability
Optimized for inflation
Optimized for inflation
- Inflation-linked performance benchmark (G7 CPI +5.5%) ensures investment decisions are focused purely on sound fundamentals and real-returns.
- Approximately 90% invested in income-generating assets with built-in pricing power and inflation pass-throughs (e.g. utilities, toll roads, and pipelines).
ClearBridge Investments calculations. ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Strategy. Past performance does not predict future returns. Global Equities – MSCI AC World, Gross, Local, FactSet Research Systems (Index Code – MSCI:892400) since 31/10/2010. ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Strategy Rep Mandate, Local, since inception 31/10/2010. Dividend Growth is calculated without the deduction of fees and expenses. There may be differences between the strategy composite and the Fund including differences in the amount of assets under management, cash flows, fees and expenses, and applicable regulatory requirements, including investment and borrowing restrictions. The past performance of the strategy composite may not be indicative of the Fund over the same period.
A unique approach
A unique approach
- The portfolio is built from ClearBridge’s proprietary investment universe – publicly listed infrastructure companies believed to represent the best ideas for long-term, inflation-linked cash-flow growth.
- A benchmark agnostic methodology gives ClearBridge the freedom to pursue the strongest opportunities in market, while engineering a portfolio that isn’t beholden to a traditional index.
- This flexibility enables ClearBridge to dynamically manage risk and generate income, with the objective of delivering smoother outcomes as markets evolve.
ClearBridge Investments calculations. ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Strategy. Past performance does not predict future returns. Global Equities – MSCI AC World, Gross, Local, FactSet Research Systems (Index Code – MSCI:892400) since 31/10/2010. ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Strategy Rep Mandate, Local, since inception 31/10/2010. Dividend Growth is calculated without the deduction of fees and expenses. There may be differences between the strategy composite and the Fund including differences in the amount of assets under management, cash flows, fees and expenses, and applicable regulatory requirements, including investment and borrowing restrictions. The past performance of the strategy composite may not be indicative of the Fund over the same period.
Anchored for stability
Anchored for stability
- Foundational allocation to regulated utilities (50% – 90%) underscores commitment to defensive, income-producing assets that offer price stability, consistent cash flows, and ‘all-weather’ durability.
Franklin Templeton, FTSE Russell, Macrobond. As of March 31, 2026.
Ready to Add Infrastructure Income to Your Portfolio?
Access Franklin ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income Fund through your preferred investment vehicle. Download fund and ETF materials, view performance, and explore how this strategy can deliver inflation-protected income and portfolio stability.
MEET THE TEAM
A specialized team with a differentiated approach
For nearly 20 years, ClearBridge Investments' team—based in Sydney, Australia—has specialized in listed infrastructure, applying private market rigour to the public markets to generate consistent long-term outcomes. With approximately US $15 billion in listed infrastructure assets under management, their track record speaks to their scale, expertise and durability.
Nicholas Langley
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, Head of Real Assets
Shane Hurst
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager
Charles Hamieh
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager
Daniel Chu, CFA
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager
PORTFOLIO IDEAS
Portfolio ideas: using the fund in your portfolio
Get more measured exposure to key megatrends reshaping global economies — AI, energy transition, supply chain renewal, and beyond – with a proven team of active managers to help target winners and manage risk.
Strengthen your income with a compelling, inflation-resistant alternative to traditional equity and bond income.
Lower your overall risk profile by adding a less correlated asset class relative to traditional stocks and bonds.
INFRASTRUCTURE INSIGHTS
Explore the latest thinking from our infrastructure experts
FAQs
Expert insights and perspectives delivered through articles, podcasts, webinars, and video conversations on the transformation of emerging markets
Global infrastructure investing focuses on essential, long-life assets such as utilities, transport networks, and energy infrastructure. Unlike traditional equities, these businesses often benefit from regulated or contracted revenues, which can provide more predictable cash flows and greater resilience across economic cycles.
Publicly listed infrastructure offers daily liquidity, greater transparency, and typically lower investment minimums than private infrastructure. Investors benefit from regular pricing, established governance standards, and the ability to adjust allocations as market conditions change. At the same time, listed infrastructure provides exposure to the same essential, long-life assets that underpin private markets, while offering flexibility that private investments may lack.
Global infrastructure can complement traditional income assets such as bonds and dividend-paying equities by introducing a differentiated source of income. Infrastructure revenues are often supported by essential services and long-term regulatory or contractual frameworks, which can help diversify income streams, reduce reliance on interest rates alone, and improve portfolio resilience during periods of inflation or market volatility.
Key risks include regulatory changes, political or policy shifts, interest-rate sensitivity, and asset-specific operational risks. Active management and diversification across regions and infrastructure subsectors can help mitigate these risks while maintaining exposure to long-term structural growth.
Because infrastructure assets deliver essential services, demand tends to remain stable even during economic slowdowns. This can result in more resilient revenues and less volatility than broader equity markets, although returns may still fluctuate with market conditions.
Active management allows portfolio managers to assess regulatory environments, capital expenditure plans, and balance-sheet strength at the company level. This flexibility helps identify high-quality infrastructure assets, manage risk dynamically, and adapt portfolios as market and policy conditions evolve.