White papers
As an index provider, SIPA benefits from the research insights of the EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research institute and also produces white papers describing the use cases and applications of the privateMetrics data platform. The papers available here include notes on our asset pricing technology and index construction methodologies.
The privateMetrics asset pricing model enables the fair market value of unlisted private equity investments to be estimated in a robust and dynamic manner. It solves the twin problems in private markets of smoothed reported NAVs, that are not convincingly marked-to-market or capture risk, and of the absence of a ...
The infraMetrics asset pricing model allows estimating the fair market value of unlisted infrastructure equity investments in a robust and dynamic manner. It improves greatly on traditional approaches which tend to generate backward-looking or ‘stale’ net asset values that are not aligned with the level of market prices at the ...
Achieving Diversification in Unlisted Infrastructure Investment: Smart Infra Portfolio Construction
March 2024
The Journal of Alternative Investments Vol 27 Issue 2
We examine two issues relevant to diversification and infrastructure investment: portfolio construction and what it means to build a “well-diversified” portfolio of unlisted infrastructure equity; strategic asset allocation, examining the potential diversification benefits gained by adding infrastructure to the asset classes that make up a typical portfolio. ...
The Valuation of Private Companies: Asset Valuation and the Dynamics of Private Markets
January 2024
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
This paper proposes a factor model based solution that, when calibrated with transaction data and novel risk factors, can transform sparse, noisy, and biased transaction data into meaningful information that aids asset allocation, benchmarking, and monitoring of private investments. ...
Low Tide: What the Data Showed About Thames Water
January 2024
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
In this paper, we ask what investors in Thames Water – and its holding company Kemble Water – would have learned about the level of risk of their investment and its likely market value had they compared its characteristics to market and peer group data. ...
Submission to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Call for Evidence: Options for Defined Benefit schemes: a call for evidence
September 2023
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
As part of the government’s policy to promote economic growth, the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wants to build an evidence base around how defined benefit (DB) pension schemes could increase the amount invested in productive asset classes including infrastructure. In its response to DWP, EDHEC Infra & Private ...
Does the rise of renewable energy create new risks for investors? Insights from 20 years of energy transition in the UK
October 2022
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
We examine the impact on the risk profile of wind and solar power investments of the increasing dominance of renewables in the energy mix of a given country, using the case of the UK whose economy has made a rapid transition to renewables and away from coal. ...
Building Portfolios with Infrastructure: Performance, Cash Flows & Portfolio Allocation
November 2022
PGIM x EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
Using asset- and fund-level data, we highlight important differences between infrastructure assets and funds, and compare their historical performance and cash flow characteristics with both public and other private investments. An infrastructure asset’s age, sector, business risk and corporate structure all influence the asset’s risk-return profile. We examine the sensitivity ...
Inflation and Rising Rates: Impact on Infrastructure Assets
October 2022
Ares x EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
This report, produced in collaboration with Ares Asset Management, illustrates that private infrastructure assets can provide resilience in the current rising rate and high inflation macroeconomic environment. The primary structural reason for this resilience is the ability of private infrastructure assets to increase revenues along with inflation. ...
The Pricing of Green Infrastructure: The realised and expected financial performance of green power infrastructure investment, 2010-2021
September 2022
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
In this paper, we examine the impact on realised performance of the permanent shift in investor preferences for low carbon energy investments, and how it relates to the expected returns of green power investments. ...
Is Infrastructure Shockproof? The Resilience of Infrastructure Equity Investments During Market Downturns, 2000-2022
July 2022
EDHEC infra & Private Assets Research Institute
In this paper, we compare the behaviour of unlisted infrastructure equity investments with that of traditional assets, with a focus on the effects of shocks such as recessions, financial market crises and policy shocks. These findings have risk management and prudential implications. ...
The Volatility of Unlisted Infrastructure Investments: Valuation drivers and trends, 2000-2021
May 2021
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
In this paper, we examine the drivers of the volatility of unlisted infrastructure equity investments. Our analysis uses the EDHECinfra database of unlisted infrastructure equity investment data, which covers hundreds of firms over 20 years and a new approach to measure the market value of these investments over time. ...
The Fair Value of Investments in Unlisted Infrastructure equity: The robustness of better data & advanced methods
April 2021
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
As more investors consider allocations to unlisted infrastructure, the need to bring the asset class into the mainstream of risk management, asset allocation and prudential regulation is increasing rapidly. Recent advances in data collection and asset pricing techniques now enable the evolution of fair market prices to be estimated. ...
The choice of performance test benchmark of Superannuation funds’ investments in infrastructure
December 2020
EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute
In this contribution to the exposure draft consultation on the “Your Future, Your Super” package, we do not comment on the general approach taken by the regulator to benchmark MySuper products but solely focus on the choice of benchmark for the unlisted infrastructure asset class. We propose abandoning the use ...
Related Insights
Private Equity Valuations: The Calm Before the Next Surge?
A new report from Scientific Infra & Private Assets entitled “Private Equities in 2024” uses the privateMetrics database, with a…
Unlock ICS Compliance with infraMetrics and privateMetrics
The adoption of the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS) by IAIS establishes a new global framework for capital adequacy, providing a…
How Risky are Private Equities? The Case of Advertising vs Subscription Businesses
Private equities offer high returns in exchange for taking a certain level of risk. These risks result, first and foremost,…