(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. has hired Luisa Leyenaar Huntingford from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to co-run its global infrastructure business.
Leyenaar Huntingford will be based in London and head the division alongside New York-based Todd Guenther, according to an internal memo sent Tuesday. She fills a position left vacant by Francisco Abularach, who recently left Citigroup after more than 25 years to take up a role at Antin Infrastructure Partners SA.
Investors continue to pour money into infrastructure funds in search of high and stable returns in the low interest rate environment. Infrastructure specialist Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is seeking $100 billion for its next round of flagship funds, while Goldman Sachs wants to raise $4 billion for its vehicle targeting the asset class.
“The amount of dry powder the infrastructure funds have continues to grow,” Guenther said in an interview. “We are also seeing the allocations from pension funds and sovereign wealth investors to the asset class rising steadily.”
Citigroup has advised on a number of prominent infrastructure mergers and acquisitions this year, including the takeovers of portable power generator-supplier Aggreko Plc and private-jet base-operator Signature Aviation Plc. It also worked on the recent initial public offering of Antin Infrastructure.
“As these funds grow in size, we will continue to see them look at more strategic options like IPOs, M&A,” said Anthony Diamandakis, co-head of global asset managers at Citigroup. “Luisa's strong M&A background and her experience covering these funds was an important factor for us in hiring her.”
Citigroup has made a raft of recent changes to its investment banking leadership in London this year. In June, it named new heads of banking, capital markets and advisory in the U.K. and Ireland, and later appointed executives from rivals including Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG in London.
Around the same time, Citigroup appointed Alvaro Revuelta and Jorge Ramos as co-heads of BCMA in Iberia. Ramos also leads the bank's infrastructure business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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