Macquarie Capital is looking to cash in on its pockets of deep expertise to gain greater upside exposure by investing directly, alongside its clients.Speaking on this these to analysts and investors yesterday, Tim Bishop, head of Macquarie Capital, started out his presentation by listing the six industry sectors and four areas of advice covered by his team, numbering about 1100 worldwide. Macquarie Capital's "secret sauce" comes via its three areas of global expertise: infrastructure, real estate and technology - with Bishop quick to point to the group's number one position in infrastructure M&A advisory, not just Australia, but worldwide. The resources, industrials and financial institutions sectors are "largely an Australian story," backed by Macquarie's specialised expertise in these areas, Bishop said.Over the past five years, Bishop said, Macquarie Capital's group profit contribution has grown, as has its revenue. Revenue for the FY 2016 half-year was A$570 million, up from A$418 million in FY 2015.  Similarly, profit contribution rose from A$150 million in the first half of 2015 to A$205 million for first half 2016. This growth in profit came about by increased revenue rather than cost cutting, Bishop added.Macquarie Capital offers traditional investment banking services: asset finance advice, merger, acquisition, divestiture and takeovers, along with restructuring and rating advisory work.  Its capital markets operations extend to traditional investment banking: structuring, arranging and underwriting debt, equity and hybrid capital.Examples cited in the presentation included the D4R7 tollroad in Slovakia (to which Macquarie, as financial adviser, committed US$40 million in equity) the IHS Lothian project building the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Scotland (although it is running seriously behind deadline), and the Kentucky statewide fibre optic network project. It's here that Macquarie's base of deep expertise and strong balance sheets has allowed it greater advantage, "partnering" with clients, sharing in the upside of asset creation and development. The group's preferred exit strategy is to offload the resulting assets to their "natural long-term owners". The next big emerging area for his business, Bishop said, is in the area of "green technology", where the group is looking to run what he called a "balancing act" between "traditional investment bankers" working alongside existing operational and technical experts - geologists, engineers, project managers with business acumen.The target return when Macquarie's own capital is invested is consistent with equity risk, Bishop said, noting that a 20 per cent and above internal rate of return had been achieved historically, "so no reason to believe otherwise".During the subsequent Q&A session with analysts, CEO Nicholas Moore emphasised that the 20 per cent rate was an overall number, and the real rate depended on the actual risk appetite for each type of investment.