The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is investing $470 million in European and British infrastructure.

The CPP IB said today it has made a 200-million-euro commitment to the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund.

Managed by a unit of the Australian-based Macquarie Group, the fund will invest in European utilities, railways, airports, toll roads and other assets.

The CPP IB is also investing 66 million pounds in the Wales & West natural gas distribution network in Wales and southwest England.

“Infrastructure, which is a relatively new asset class for us, has higher expected returns than bonds and is a good hedge against inflation,” said David Denison, in a release.

Denison took over last week as president and CEO of the CPP IB.

“This is the type of regulated asset we are ideally looking for and are disappointed that there are so few domestic opportunities that meet our investment criteria.”

The commitments announced Monday raise the fund’s infrastructure commitments to $670 million; it entrusted $200 million last year to Macquarie Essential Assets Partnership, which invests in North American assets.

The CPP Investment Board, which invests funds not needed to pay current Canada Pension Plan benefits, held $75.2 billion in its reserve fund at Sept. 30 – $35.6 billion in bonds and money market securities, and $39.6 billion in stocks, private companies, property and infrastructure.