2015.02.24
[글로벌이코노믹 김경삼 기자] 일본거래소그룹 계열 도쿄증권거래소는 인프라 펀드를 상장시키는 시장을 오는 4월 창설한다고 24일 발표했다.
인프라 펀드시장이란 펀드가 시장을 통해 투자가로부터 폭넓게 자금을 조달, 발전소나 공항 등 인프라에 투자하는 것이다.
인프라의 정비와 갱신에 민간자금을 활용하기가 쉬워지는 것은 물론 연금과 개인의 새로운 투자대상으로서 관심을 불러일으킬 것으로 전망된다.
상장 대상은 기초 시설을 투자 대상으로 하는 투자회사나 투자신탁이다. 대상 자산이 되는 시설은 신재생 에너지 발전설비나 공공시설 운영권 등이다.
도쿄증권거래소는 부동산투자신탁(REIT) 시장 제도를 모델로 수익의 안정성을 확보하기 위한 지원 등 인프라 제품의 특성을 감안한 제도 정비에 나서기로 했다.
일본거래소그룹은 이번 인프라 펀드시장 창설과 관련, “국가재정에 부담을 주지 않으면서 민간자금을 효율적으로 활용해 인프라를 건설할 수 있을 것”이라고 강조했다.
/글로벌이코노믹 김경삼 기자
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Japan Exchange plans infrastructure bourse: report
By MarketWatch
Published: June 16, 2013 6:32 p.m. ET
SHARES 13
Japan Exchange Group Inc. (8697.JA, OSCUF), operator of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, will create a new market, possibly in fiscal 2015, to attract private capital to upgrade or replace infrastructure built during Japan's postwar boom, the Nikkei reports.
Nikkei said the new market will list funds for infrastructure investment and other sectors expected to grow in the future, such as renewable energy and overseas infrastructure projects, according to Japan Exchange officials.
Infrastructure investment funds pull in capital from private investors that is used to build airports, roads and ports, for example, along with energy facilities, gas pipelines and other infrastructure. The investors buy shares in the infrastructure itself or in the companies that manage it, receiving dividends or other gains. There are about 50 infrastructure investment funds listed world-wide, with a total market capitalization of 10.4 trillion yen ($110.24 billion) as of the end of January.
Nikkei reported the Tokyo Stock Exchange has already approached a number of infrastructure operators with proposals to raise funds in the new market. Public facilities that may raise capital in this way include Kansai International Airport, which is planning to sell management rights to private companies, although state and local authorities will retain ownership, and Sendai airport, which is trying to expedite rebuilding after the facility was damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Infrastructure funds are often closed, raising money from a limited number of institutional investors. By listing on the new market, they will be able to raise money from a larger pool of investors, including individuals, who are likely to treat them like real-estate investment trusts, Nikkei said.
The TSE will create the new market against the backdrop of shaky government finances. Improving Japan's aging infrastructure will require a huge amount of money that the government may not be willing to spend, considering the nearly 1,000 trillion yen in government bonds outstanding and other debts the state must bear. Given the need for private capital, both institutional and individual, to finance infrastructure improvements, the TSE believes the new market will have a big role to play, Nikkei reported.
Meeting Japan's energy challenge is another motivation behind the market. Renewable energy, in particular, is expected to draw a great deal of investor interest. Up to now, renewable-energy projects have had trouble raising money. A TSE study panel of brokerage officials, lawyers and certified public accountants recommended infrastructure investment funds be used to build and operate solar-power plants.
Nikkei said the economic growth strategy adopted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is expected to benefit the infrastructure investment market, as it includes support for overseas projects. "If promoters of large-scale infrastructure improvement projects are able to sell the management rights to listed infrastructure investment funds after completion, development risks can be reduced," said an executive at a big brokerage.
The number of institutional investors investing in infrastructure world-wide has risen to 1,551 in the first quarter of 2012, up from fewer than 600 in July-September 2009, according to Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. Countries around Asia have already set up markets that list infrastructure investment funds, creating more competition to raise capital from institutional investors around the world.