Mr Bidot will be responsible for stock selection and analysis with a particular focus on Europe. He will be based in Sydney and report to CIO Sarah Shaw.
Prior to joining 4D, Mr Bidot worked for PwC’s corporate advisory division for nearly seven years, in France, Germany and Australia. He was most recently the associate director at PwC’s infrastructure advisory division in Australia, focusing on infrastructure modelling, valuations and corporate advisory services.
Mr Bidot has a Master of Science in Corporate Finance and a Master of Management (majoring in finance) from the EDHEC Business School in Nice, France. He is also a CFA® Charterholder and CFM® Chartered Financial Modeller.
Ms Shaw said that Mr Bidot brings strong global expertise to 4D, having worked in five countries across three continents.
“There is a huge growing need for infrastructure investment globally, and Gaspard’s appointment will further enhance our coverage of our global investment universe.
“We believe that infrastructure will be the key to economic prosperity in a post COVID-19 world, as infrastructure provides the basic services that are essential for communities to function, and for economies to prosper and grow.
“Factors such as population growth, energy transition and the emergence of the middle class are all driving the need for infrastructure investing. Gaspard’s experience in financial modelling and valuation will be central in identifying global infrastructure investment opportunities.
“In addition, he is actively involved in organisations fostering environmental change, social inclusion and diversity, all important to 4D’s wider remit,” Ms Shaw said.
Mr Bidot’s appointment follows the 4D Global Infrastructure Fund passing the five-year mark in March 2021. Since inception, the Fund’s performance has been top quartile* and it has returned investors 10.17% p.a. compared to its absolute benchmark of 7.13% p.a.** It has also out-performed the core recognised infrastructure indices over the same period*** (all figures at 31 May 2021).
Ms Shaw commented, “Since launching our business in 2016, we have seen interest in infrastructure investment grow exponentially, while the opportunities for us as investors have also increased.”
* Source: Morningstar and Bloomberg. Inception date is 7 March 2016. Past fund performance is not indicative of future performance.
** Benchmark is the OECD G7 Inflation Index + 5.5%. Performance figures are net of fees and expenses.
*** In AUD per Bloomberg: FTSE Global Core Infrastructure Index 8.33% p.a.; Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Index 8.13% p.a.; S&P Global Infrastructure Index 6.58% p.a.