ECP Registers the ECP Essential Infrastructure Income Fund

On 5/07/2021, Energy Capital Partners Management (ECP) registered the ECP Essential Infrastructure Income Fund (the “Fund”), a private interval fund which will target public and private securities related to essential infrastructure.

ECP, the fund’s advisor, is a New Jersey-based private equity firm with several decades’ experience in energy and infrastructure investing. Much of their portfolio is focused on midstream fossil fuels, though ECP has made a recent push into renewable energy holdings. Currently, about a third of ECP’s portfolio companies are in the low-carbon energy space.

The Essential Infrastructure Income Fund’s launch comes during a time when public infrastructure spending, and its potential to bolster the balance sheets of private companies through grants and contracts, are on the foreground of the alternative investment landscape. According to the Fund’s most recent prospectus, its aim is to generate high current income with a secondary focus on capital appreciation by focusing on the growing infrastructure sector.

At least 80% of the Fund’s total assets will be invested in income-producing securities issued by infrastructure firms – mostly debt. ECP defines an “infrastructure or related company” as one with “at least 50% of its assets, income, sales or profits are committed to or derived from the development, construction, distribution, operation, management, ownership, servicing, or financing of essential infrastructure assets.” Infrastructure debt is an alternative asset favored by longer-term investors due to its stable cash flow, low correlation to equity markets, and premium yields.

ECP expects most of the Fund’s investments to be focused in the U.S., where the Biden Administration’s proposed American Jobs Plan aims to spend $2 trillion over the next decade.

The Fund is currently planning to offer Institutional Class Shares of Beneficial Interest with a minimum initial investment of $1,000,000. The Fund’s legal team is Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.