Koski to leave ADIA

Chris Koski has resigned as global head of infrastructure for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). He is expected to leave in the fourth quarter of this year, prior to which he will be remaining with the organisation in an effort to ensure a seamless transition.

It is understood that the decision to leave was taken for family reasons. ADIA, which confirmed Koski’s departure, said a search for a successor will soon be underway.

Koski joined ADIA in 2007, prior to which he was a senior member of the infrastructure and private investment teams at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Before that, he had worked in investment banking at RBC Capital Markets and in investment management at the Toronto Dominion Bank.

ADIA is understood to be pleased with the performance of its infrastructure portfolio, which has benefitted from picking up stakes in some high-profile assets at favourable, post-crisis valuations. Included in its portfolio are stakes in the likes of Gatwick Airport – in which ADIA acquired a 15 percent stake following Global Infrastructure Partners’ £1.5 billion acquisition in December 2010 – Norwegian gas pipeline Gassled and Australia’s Port of Brisbane.

The $627 billion sovereign wealth fund aims to have between 1 and 5 percent of its total assets under management allocated to infrastructure. Last year, it combined its real estate and infrastructure departments as part of a wider effort to streamline and integrate various departments.