HOW TO PLAY IT

According to Bruce Flatt

When times are tough, having capital that can’t be redeemed from

flighty investors is critical. A permanent war chest is the ballast of Wes Edens’ new industrialist vision in infrastructure. He’s up against billionaire Bruce Flatt of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management,

who oversees an empire with $60 billion in cash to invest in Covidcrushed markets and permanent capital vehicles worth $100 billion, including infrastructure, where Brookfield recently closed on a dedicated $20 billion fund. The cash will help it add bargains to a portfolio with 16,500 kilometers

of natural-gas pipelines and 6.6 million electricity and gas connections, 22,000 kilometers of railroad tracks, 13 port terminals and 51 data centers. “The one thing that really matters

is that a business can make it through this period intact and without undue harm,” Flatt says. “It’s usually a function of having made preparations before the tide went out.”