In this week's episode we take a deep dive into the global infrastructure investment market as I chat to Jon Phillips, chief executive of GIIA, the Global Infrastructure Investors Association.

The Association represents the world's foremost institutional investors who together manage over US$2.2 trillion in infrastructure assets across 68 countries. And as we stand in 2026, the landscape for private capital has never been more complex. 

The podcast is being recorded during the latest Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit hosted by software giant Bentley Systems and the Institution of Civil Engineers in Melbourne so gives us an opportunity to also explore how the infrastructure market is fairing on this side of the world and the pressures, challenges and opportunities that clients and investors face in the Australian and South East Asian market.

While globally 2025 saw record-breaking fundraising, the industry is grappling with a fascinating paradox: a massive hunger for "bankable" projects set against a backdrop of geopolitical shifts, from the evolving impact of the Trump administration to the cooling of the AI-driven digital infrastructure boom.

Jon’s career spans the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to Heathrow, and nearly a decade at the helm of GIIA, where he now sits at the intersection of policy, delivery, and capital. 

Which makes him the perfect person to give us a quick update on the global infrastructure investment market. 

Resources

• The Global Infrastructure Investors Association
• GIIA’s latest Infrastructure Pulse survey 
• Jon Phillips Linked In
• Australian Infrastructure Investment Monitor
• Victoria State infrastructure strategy
• Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit Melbourne