Fundraising

Koski to start at Morgan Stanley Infra ‘very soon’

The former global head of infrastructure for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will be a managing director.

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Chris Koski, the former global head of infrastructure at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), is due to start work at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure (MSI) “very soon,” a source familiar with the hiring told Infrastructure Investor.

Koski will join MSI as a managing director. His departure from ADIA was confirmed by the sovereign wealth fund last September, although Koski ended up staying until the fourth quarter to help hire a replacement. 

During his tenure at ADIA, Koski presided over the purchase of holdings in several global flagship assets, including London’s Gatwick Airport, Thames Water, the UK’s largest water and wastewater utility, and Norwegian gas distribution network Gassled. ADIA, which is believed to manage over $600 billion of assets, has spoken of allocating between 1 and 5 percent of its portfolio to infrastructure. 

Prior to joining ADIA, Koski had worked at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a Canadian pension fund. 

MSI – which is jointly run by Markus Hottenrott, Anne Valentine Andrews and Jim Wilmott – is in the early stages of fundraising for its Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners II (MSIP II) fund, the multi-billion dollar follow-up to its $4 billion global infrastructure fund, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP I). 

Flagship infrastructure offering MSIP I was established in 2008, and is a heavyweight fund in the global asset class, while MSI itself is ranked No. 19 on the Infrastructure Investor 30 ranking. 

In 2012, MSIP I became full owner of Southern Star Central Corporation, then in June paid $1.9 billion for 90 percent of water and wastewater service Veolia Environnement. Last August, the fund bought a majority stake in Continuum Wind Energy for $210 million and in September MSIP I added $150 million to its existing $150 million in Zhaoheng, a water power concern in China.   

In 2012, Adil Rahmathulla, executive director for America, and Gautam Bhandari, a managing director for Asia, left MSI. A year prior, MSI lost global head of infrastructure Sadek Wahba, and Vincent Policard, an investment professional focused on Europe.