Chair of one of the largest global investment managers says ports are just as important to the future infrastructure of the global economy as they do with data centers and the power grid.
BlackRock Chairman Lawrence Fink said in his annual letter to investors that that’s why the company spent turning 2024 into a private market leader, and that it would be better to jump to what it estimates to be a $68 trillion infrastructure boom.
“The assets that define the future — the Data centres, ports, the power grid, and the world’s fastest growing private companies — are unavailable to most investors,” writes Fink. “They are in private markets, trapped behind high walls, and gates open only for the wealthiest or largest market participants.”
New York-based BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) announced in February that it could partner with Geneva’s shipping MSC to acquire most of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison (0000.hk) port terminals in a $23 billion transaction, rebalancing the power balance for container shipments.
However, this week China said it had blocked sales, including terminals at Cristobal and Balboa’s Panama Port near the Panama Canal, and planned a formal review.
Fink said the principle contract covers terminals with a 43-port network in 23 countries. “One of the 20 shipping containers travelling around the world passes through these ports every year.”
Fink said deficit spending is suffocating government infrastructure funds, but this would have nothing to rely on other than to draw private investments.
Between 2024 and 2040, global infrastructure will require $68 trillion in investment, Fink said.
“On the other hand, businesses do not rely solely on banks for credit,” he writes. “Bank lending is constrained. Instead, businesses go to the market. Money is already there. In fact, more capital is sitting at any point in my career. In the US alone, around $25 trillion is parked in banks and money market funds.”
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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