Spending time in a warm, noisy building full of servers, routers and storage devices might not be everyone’s idea of a fun day out — let alone appear to be a glamorous investment opportunity.

But these unassuming physical assets, known as data centres, are the beating heart of the internet, cloud services and emerging technologies such as AI. As internet usage and AI uptake increase, so will the need for powerful data centres. In fact, ABI Research predicts the number of global public data centres will reach almost 5,700 by the end of the year and could top 8,400 by 2030.

This makes them an attractive physical asset for wealthy individuals and investors looking to capitalise on technological trends and enjoy high returns. However, investing comes with considerable risks, including their substantial environmental impact, red-tape delays and high building and operational costs.