The Association of Investment Companies is to will rename its Utilities sector the Infrastructure Securities sector from 16 December.

The new sector will contain investment companies with over 80% of their money invested directly in listed infrastructure shares.

The constituents of the sector will be Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure and Premier Global Infrastructure, those currently within the Utilities sector.

The AIC says the change follows a review led by the AIC’s independent statistics committee of brokers, research analysts and data providers.

The composition of leading global indices suggests that utilities is now seen as a sub-sector of infrastructure, says the trade body, hence the change was required.

Infrastructure Securities has been kept separate from the existing Infrastructure sector so investors can easily understand whether they are investing in listed or unlisted infrastructure.

The renaming follows the new Property Securities sector which was created for investment companies investing in listed shares of property companies.

Ian Sayers, chief executive of the Association of Investment Companies, said: “We have renamed the Utilities sector Infrastructure Securities to assist investors, analysts and industry professionals in understanding the underlying holdings of these investment companies. The new sector name is consistent with the wider market view. It will help investors in their research process and inform their investment decisions.”