Seeks long-term total return while striving to generate current income and find the best relative value opportunities in the infrastructure debt sector. Broadly allocates to securities that own, operate or are involved in the distribution, development and service of infrastructure-related assets.
The Global Infrastructure and Asset-Backed Securities teams have a value-oriented and research-driven approach that combines bottom-up research with DoubleLine’s macroeconomic views. This method leverages the team’s expertise and knowledge in investing in infrastructure-related debt.
Infrastructure debt has historically exhibited low correlations to other fixed income assets and can lower overall portfolio volatility while potentially delivering incremental yields in a fixed income portfolio. The asset class is supported by strong underlying fundamentals and defensive attributes that can be attractive across a range of economic environments. Infrastructure debt finances projects, assets or companies that provide essential services in strategic sectors of the economy. Investments can include debt that finances airports, toll roads, power plants and renewable energy. Additionally, it can also include investments secured by infrastructure-related assets, such as aircraft, rolling stock (vehicles that operate on tracks, including powered and unpowered vehicles) and telecom towers.
Historically, institutional investors have invested in infrastructure mostly through private equity. Infrastructure debt, however, is a nascent investment opportunity that has arisen over the past several years due to increasing regulatory constraints on infrastructure lending. Commercial banks, which have traditionally been the largest lenders to infrastructure projects, have reduced their exposure, creating a funding gap that needs to be filled by other institutions. We believe investors in this emerging asset class can potentially benefit from:
– High barriers to entry; often monopolistic assets – Inelastic demand for essential services – Predictable cash flows due to project contracts
Mr. Contes joined DoubleLine in 2013. He is Chairman of the Responsible Investment Advisory Committee and leads the firmwide Responsible Investment initiative and the DoubleLine Responsible Investment Team. In addition, Mr. Contes is a Portfolio Manager on the Global Infrastructure Investments team. Previously, Mr. Contes was a Corporate Analyst responsible for the coverage of transportation, oil & gas, and petrochemical sectors for the Emerging Markets Fixed Income group. Prior to DoubleLine, he was a Corporate Research Analyst at ICE Canyon, where he contributed to the investment management of the firm’s three types of Emerging Markets and global vehicles: hedge fund (absolute return), index products (relative value) and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). Previous to ICE Canyon, he was a Senior Bank Debt Specialist with Canyon Capital Advisors, where he was responsible for the settlement of foreign and distressed bank debt transactions. Prior to that, he was a Senior Fund Accountant with Mellon Financial Corporation, overseeing Emerging Markets Real Estate funds and Oil & Gas Debt and Royalty funds. Mr. Contes holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting & Finance from the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. He is a CFA® charterholder.
Mr. Hsu joined DoubleLine at its inception in 2009. He is a Portfolio Manager for the DoubleLine Total Return and ABS/Infrastructure Income strategies. Mr. Hsu is a permanent member of the Fixed Income Asset Allocation and Structured Products Committees. Prior to that, he was responsible for analysis and trading of structured products, where his focus included residential MBS and ABS transactions. Mr. Hsu’s responsibilities have also included structuring and negotiating terms on new-issue transactions and forming strategic partnerships with issuing entities in order to participate in key transactions. Prior to DoubleLine, he worked at TCW from 2002, where he focused on credit analysis for structured product securities and co-managed two structured product funds centered on debt and equity investments. During that time, Mr. Hsu was actively involved with portfolio management decisions and investment analysis, including reverse engineering complex CDO/CLO structures. He holds a BS in Finance from the University of Southern California and is a CFA® charterholder.
