Investing in infrastructure has been a theme that has caught the eye of many wealth and asset managers for some time. However, with political uncertainty often raising the anxiety levels of those wanting exposure to this burgeoning investment sector, Friday’s election result has reassured many holding UK infrastructure assets in whatever wrapper they’ve used.

Given that shadow chancellor John McDonnell pledged in 2017 to bring the billions of pounds worth of PFI projects back under government control, the election result should come as great news to those holding closed-ended fund GCP Infrastructure as these initiatives make up for one of the largest parts of its portfolio.

Fundeye spoke to Phil Kent, lead adviser on the trust, on polling day last Thursday. He had put a £35 million cost to the portfolio if Labour would go on to win the election. He said one of the main concerns stemmed from Labour’s plan to nationalise major industries, with the government setting the ‘market price’ of the assets. A clear contradiction of terms as market forces aren’t controlled by the state.

“PFI is a very generic term for a broad set of industries including transport and healthcare and there has been public statements about whether some of the initiatives are value for money or not.” Said Mr Kent.

With 49 holdings, the trust is more diversified than this figure suggests. It has made 49 infrastructure loans although beneath these lay a far wider range of assets. It has a large exposure to the renewable energy sector, being almost a first mover in the field and thus holding assets that still enjoy government subsidies before a change in policy in 2017.

However, Mr Kent explained that the company is a not a “natural seller of assets” despite the premium attached to solar assets that still benefit from subsidies. He went on to state that one issue would be where to deploy the cash raised from the sale of these assets and with an overall dividend yield of 6 percent, finding a high yielding infrastructure project may prove difficult.

This said, the company is on the search on the new projects to lend money to although Mr Kent told Fundeye that these will be in the secondary market while it works out which new sectors the UK is likely to need.

This is a trust that ticks a lot of boxes for income seeking investors who also want some inflation protection. However, it’s hardly a secret which goes some way to explain why it trades on 13.4 percent premium NAV. A look at the shareholder register reveals some big names are fans of Gravis Capital Partners’ product, with Rathbones, Close Brothers and Schroders all holding significant positions.

While GCP Infrastructure certainly benefited from the election result, some risks remain. Certain sectors may attract more regulatory scrutiny and a rise in interest rates would also be an issue. However for a portfolio that has exposure to everything from biomass renewable energy facilities to social housing it’s diverse enough to hold out against many possible scenarios. Just not a Corbyn led proto Marxist state perhaps.