Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
Today’s conversation unpacks an emerging category within infrastructure investing that has a compelling set of market forces and mega trend tailwinds.
We sat down in
Stonepeak’s New York office with Stonepeak Credit Partner and Senior Managing Director
Ryan Roberge.
Ryan brings a diverse set of experiences to bear that helped him build an infrastructure credit business at Stonepeak. He previously covered the energy and infrastructure sectors for King Street, a New York-based hedge fund focused on distressed, special situations, and event driven credit investing. Prior to King Street, Ryan worked in the Energy group at TPG Capital, a large global alternative asset manager. Ryan started his career in Credit Suisse’s Energy Investment Banking Group. He received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Louisiana State University.
Ryan and I had a fascinating conversation on why infrastructure credit’s time is now. We covered:
- How Ryan’s background across energy investment banking, energy private equity, and distressed and special situations energy and infrastructure investing all help when investing in infrastructure credit.
- Why infrastructure credit is a specialized, capital-intensive strategy.
- How to underwrite data center risk.
- Contrarian AI insights.
- The biggest risks in infrastructure credit investing.
- How and why infrastructure credit is different from other areas of private credit and direct lending.
- How a specialist investment platform can help inform where to invest in infrastructure credit.
Thanks Ryan for coming on the podcast to share your expertise, wisdom, and passion for infrastructure and credit.
Show Notes00:00 Hard Asset Diversification
00:25 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream
01:01 Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus
04:16 Ryan Career Origins
04:52 From Banking to TPG
05:25 King Street Credit Training
06:07 Equity To Credit Shift
07:04 Downside First Mindset
07:48 What Is Infrastructure Credit
08:25 Asset Level Underwriting
09:02 Capital Intensive Returns
09:51 Thinking Like An Owner
10:44 Funding Gap And AI Tailwinds
11:01 Why Direct Lending Misses It
12:29 Construction And Collateral Value
13:15 Capital Markets Spectrum
15:56 Private Credit Vs Infra Credit
18:55 Where It Fits In Portfolios
24:36 Data Centers Tech Risk
31:04 Cycle Risk Reality Check
31:32 Long Duration Mindset
32:13 Loan Horizon Framework
32:40 Asset First Underwriting
32:53 Maintenance Capex Truth
33:59 Stress Testing Recovery
34:13 Capital Flood Into Infra
35:14 Theme Chasing Warning
36:02 Why Skip Renewables
36:20 Bigger Deals Cheaper Money
36:51 ABF And Insurance Capital
37:17 Non-IG Hard Asset Logic
38:11 Scale Keeps IG Away
38:25 Key Underwriting Risks
38:34 Loan To Value Reality
39:01 Fiber To Home Case Study
40:09 Growth Platform Underwrite
41:01 Hiring For Credit Mindset
42:23 Downside Recovery Culture
43:10 Contrarian AI Insight
44:07 Circular Demand Red Flags
46:39 Data Center Risk Filters
49:20 Investor Demand And Closing
A Word from Our Sponsor, UltimusThis episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by
Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.
That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.
We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.What is Alt Goes Mainstream: The Latest on Alternative Investments, WealthTech, & Private Markets?
Alt Goes Mainstream podcast is the place to turn to for interviews with some of the brightest and most experienced minds in the world at the intersection private markets and wealth management. AGM dives into investment strategies like private equity (PE), private credit, venture capital (VC), secondaries, GP stakes, infrastructure, real estate, wealth management, and comprehensively covers tools and frameworks for approaching private markets, such as asset allocation, evergreen funds, model portfolios, and more. For anyone looking to invest into private markets (from experienced wealth managers to family offices to the individual investor looking for a more diversified investment portfolio), you’ll hear inside stories from executives and founders at some of the world’s largest financial institutions, alternative asset managers firms, and wealth management firms. More than a personal finance podcast, Alt Goes Mainstream dives deep into trends, investment strategies, firm building lessons, and innovative technologies that are enabling investors to access private markets.