(Bloomberg) -- Swiss Re AG Chief Executive Officer Michel Liescalled for the creation of a special infrastructure asset class toallow insurers to invest in projects such as roads and bridges.

“If you take all the insurance industry, all the money they caninvest, and if you take the infrastructure need of this planet --there is a perfect match,” Lies said in an interview in Davos,Switzerland.

Insurers and reinsurers, which help primary insurers cover thecosts of damage claims, are looking for alternative opportunitiesas low interest rates erode earnings from fixed- incomeinvestments. At the same time European Commission PresidentJean-Claude Juncker is seeking private-sector support for his 315billion-euro ($365 billion) investment plan.

Market regulators could “define infrastructure investment as aspecified class which allows a secondary market and which allowsinvestors who can invest long term to have an investment that isliquid during the time of investment,” Lies said.

He said infrastructure investment “is on the top of the agenda”of the Obama administration in the U.S. and Juncker in Europe.

“We should make sure that the rules of the game go in the samedirection as the political appetite,” Lies said. “We are veryactive in this area. Davos is a good opportunity to meet differentpeople and to discuss these kind of challenges.’”

Barack Obama has pressed throughout his presidency for morespending on roads, bridges, railways and other transportationprojects. Last year, he proposed a four-year, $302 billioninfrastructure plan. Congress has ignored his request.

While the “low-yield environment is challenging,” Lies saidthere’s also a silver lining. “If you cannot count on investmentresults, you need to be very disciplined in underwriting.” This isthe 8th time Lies is attending the World Economic Forum inDavos.

--With assistance from Rebecca Christie in Brussels, MikeDorning and Joe Sobczyk in Washington and Jan Schwalbe inZurich.

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