Brookfield Asset Management CEO Signals Record Fundraising Year as Geopolitical Risk Accelerates Infrastructure Capital Deployment
Brookfield Asset Management CEO Connor Teskey stated on Tuesday that the firm expects to break its fundraising record "by a fairly meaningful margin" in 2026, driven by accelerating investor demand across three infrastructure themes: digitalisation (data centres and digital networks), energy security, and supply chain resilience. Teskey identified geopolitical risk as the primary accelerant, noting that instability — including the ongoing Iran War and associated fossil fuel price volatility — is pushing institutional investors toward real-asset infrastructure as a defensive and yield-generating allocation. The remarks came in a CNBC interview and connect directly to the UK and European infrastructure market, where Brookfield has been an active investor in energy and digital assets. The commentary lands in a week when the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE Group) announced its flagship Delivering Infrastructure 2050 Conference, scheduled for 30 June 2026 at IET London: Savoy Place. The conference will convene policymakers — including DESNZ (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) Minister for Industry Chris McDonald MP and NISTA (National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority) Chair Julia Prescot CBE — alongside infrastructure investors and delivery specialists. Speakers also include Ofwat's Director of Major Projects, underlining the regulatory dimension of UK infrastructure investment across water, highways, and energy sectors. The convergence of record private infrastructure fundraising and an active UK policy agenda around long-term infrastructure planning creates a strong pipeline for project finance, regulatory advisory, and infrastructure M&A work.
Why this matters
Record fundraising by a major infrastructure manager like Brookfield directly translates into deal deployment pressure — managers must invest capital once raised, which drives project finance mandates, infrastructure acquisitions, and refinancings across the UK and Europe. The three themes Teskey named — digitalisation, energy security, supply chain — map precisely onto the areas where DESNZ, Ofwat, and the National Wealth Fund are currently most active in the UK, suggesting strong regulatory-commercial alignment for the next 18 months. The ACE Infrastructure 2050 conference reinforces that the policy pipeline supporting this investment is being consolidated at the highest government level, reducing planning and consenting risk for investors.
On the Ground
A trainee on an infrastructure investment matter would assist with grid connection agreement analysis and regulatory filing coordination with Ofwat or Ofgem, as well as summarising planning permission and licence conditions relevant to the project. They would also prepare due diligence summaries on IP and technology transfer agreements for any digital infrastructure components.
Interview prep
Soundbite
Record infrastructure fundraising means deployment pressure — every £ raised must be invested, driving deal flow into energy and digital assets.
Question you might get
“What regulatory approvals and consenting processes would a major new UK digital infrastructure or data centre project need to navigate, and which government bodies would be involved?”
Full answer
Brookfield's CEO has signalled a record fundraising year for 2026, citing geopolitical risk and accelerating demand for digital, energy-secure, and resilient supply chain infrastructure. For infrastructure lawyers, this is a direct pipeline signal: capital raised must be deployed, and Brookfield's stated focus areas align closely with active UK regulatory programmes at DESNZ, Ofwat, and the National Wealth Fund. The trend of geopolitical instability driving infrastructure investment has been building since 2022 but is now a defining feature of capital allocation globally. This suggests that project finance, regulatory clearance, and infrastructure M&A practices across Magic Circle and elite US firms will remain at near-full capacity through the end of 2026.
Sources
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