Growth and Investment Opportunities in Infrastructure with Ken Baumgartner
Uncertainty and volatility are increasingly the new normal in today's investment markets. This has led many investors to seek out new asset classes that are not only stable and generate attractive returns but are also backed by structural growth trends. One asset class that meets these criteria is infrastructure.
In this episode, Rusty and Robyn talk with Ken Baumgartner, Investment Director at Wellington Management. In his role, Ken provides business management and strategic oversight for asset allocation, inflation hedging solutions, and strategic solutions for multi-manager platforms. He works closely with portfolio managers to evaluate and communicate portfolio characteristics, performance, and market outlook to external constituents.
Known for his expertise in inflation hedging, Ken talks with Rusty and Robyn about infrastructure as an asset class, the biggest themes in the infrastructure market today, and how infrastructure can help hedge inflation.
Key Takeaways
[02:45] - How Ken got into financial services.
[04:49] - What makes Wellington Management unique.
[06:47] - How infrastructure can help hedge inflation.
[08:46] - Infrastructure as an asset class.
[11:34] - What makes public infrastructure different from private infrastructure.
[13:38] - The biggest themes in the infrastructure space today.
[15:41] - Why electric utilities may be key to the energy transition.
[17:34] - Risks associated with lower volatility asset classes.
[19:13] - What impact has the boom in commodities had on Wellington's outlook on energy?
[23:21] - The impact of midterm elections on infrastructure.
[24:27] - How Ken maintains his mental and physical well-being to perform at a high level.
[25:54] - Ken's content recommendation.
Quotes
[07:55] - "Compared to potentially other higher beta volatile asset classes, such as natural resource equities or commodities, the performance of the infrastructure profile will be much more stable." ~ Ken Baumgartner
[13:47] - "One of the biggest themes across global markets is the idea of decarbonization. Here you have a multi-decade secular growth in both the transmission and the renewable space. And the best way to invest is through the regulated utilities that own the wires and the transmission and are also investing in renewables to bring their power production footprint." ~ Ken Baumgartner
[16:45] - "Carbon should not necessarily be thought of as dirty. People are too quick to cast aside some of these companies that today might still have some carbon in their power production stack but are doing more for the world to decarbonize than any of the cleanest and greenest." ~ Ken Baumgartner
Links
Ken Baumgartner on LinkedIn
Wellington Management
Mr. Brightside by The Killers
Everlong by Foo Fighters
T.N.T. by AC/DC
Goldman Sachs
New York Islanders
Harvard Business School
John Hancock Investment Management
Podcasts - Freakonomics
WellSaid - The Wellington Management Podcast
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
Connect with our hosts
Rusty Vanneman
Robyn Murray
Subscribe and stay in touch
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
2003-OPS-10/25/2022
In this episode, Rusty and Robyn talk with Ken Baumgartner, Investment Director at Wellington Management. In his role, Ken provides business management and strategic oversight for asset allocation, inflation hedging solutions, and strategic solutions for multi-manager platforms. He works closely with portfolio managers to evaluate and communicate portfolio characteristics, performance, and market outlook to external constituents.
Known for his expertise in inflation hedging, Ken talks with Rusty and Robyn about infrastructure as an asset class, the biggest themes in the infrastructure market today, and how infrastructure can help hedge inflation.
Key Takeaways
[02:45] - How Ken got into financial services.
[04:49] - What makes Wellington Management unique.
[06:47] - How infrastructure can help hedge inflation.
[08:46] - Infrastructure as an asset class.
[11:34] - What makes public infrastructure different from private infrastructure.
[13:38] - The biggest themes in the infrastructure space today.
[15:41] - Why electric utilities may be key to the energy transition.
[17:34] - Risks associated with lower volatility asset classes.
[19:13] - What impact has the boom in commodities had on Wellington's outlook on energy?
[23:21] - The impact of midterm elections on infrastructure.
[24:27] - How Ken maintains his mental and physical well-being to perform at a high level.
[25:54] - Ken's content recommendation.
Quotes
[07:55] - "Compared to potentially other higher beta volatile asset classes, such as natural resource equities or commodities, the performance of the infrastructure profile will be much more stable." ~ Ken Baumgartner
[13:47] - "One of the biggest themes across global markets is the idea of decarbonization. Here you have a multi-decade secular growth in both the transmission and the renewable space. And the best way to invest is through the regulated utilities that own the wires and the transmission and are also investing in renewables to bring their power production footprint." ~ Ken Baumgartner
[16:45] - "Carbon should not necessarily be thought of as dirty. People are too quick to cast aside some of these companies that today might still have some carbon in their power production stack but are doing more for the world to decarbonize than any of the cleanest and greenest." ~ Ken Baumgartner
Links
Ken Baumgartner on LinkedIn
Wellington Management
Mr. Brightside by The Killers
Everlong by Foo Fighters
T.N.T. by AC/DC
Goldman Sachs
New York Islanders
Harvard Business School
John Hancock Investment Management
Podcasts - Freakonomics
WellSaid - The Wellington Management Podcast
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
Connect with our hosts
Rusty Vanneman
Robyn Murray
Subscribe and stay in touch
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
2003-OPS-10/25/2022
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