ADIA appoints head of principal investments

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) announced today the appointment of Colm Lanigan as Head of Principal Investments in its Private Equities Department, with immediate effect. In this new role, Lanigan will be responsible, alongside senior management, for developing strategy and overseeing the execution and management of principal investments, in which ADIA acquires equity stakes in private companies, typically alongside private equity sponsors or partners. Based in Abu Dhabi, Lanigan will report to Hareb Al Darmaki, Executive Director of ADIA's Private Equities Department. With over 20 years of public and private markets experience, Lanigan's career has included senior roles in some of the world's largest and most respected financial institutions. Most recently, he served as Managing Partner of Tara Capital, a boutique private equity firm that he started in 2005. Prior to this, he was a partner at Caxton-Iseman Capital, the private equity affiliate of hedge fund Caxton Associates, where he helped to expand the firm's principal investment business. From 1996 to 2001, Mr. Lanigan worked in leveraged finance at Credit Suisse First Boston where he advised companies, as well as private equity and hedge funds on capital raising and strategic alternatives across multiple industries. He also served as a capital markets advisor for the International Monetary Fund, with a focus on debt market development, interest rate liberalisation and reserve management in several Asian countries. He received an LLB/JD degree from the University of Toronto Law School and a BSc from the University of Toronto. Commenting on the appointment, Al Darmaki said: "Colm is a highly experienced private equity investor, with a proven track record across the industry, including in the emerging markets space. He will play an important role in managing our portfolio of existing principal investments, while further developing our strategy in this area."