UAE’s $160 Billion Investment Council Hires Canadian Pension Veteran to Lead Private Equity

Abu Dhabi Investment Council has appointed Canadian pension investment veteran Lori Hall-Kimm as chief investment officer for private equity, bringing an executive with more than 25 years of investment experience into the sovereign wealth fund’s global private-markets operation.

Hall-Kimm joins ADIC after leading global private equity at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, or HOOPP, where private equity net assets grew to C$24.2 billion ($17.5 billion) from roughly C$20 billion during her tenure. Her move follows Bloomberg’s Aug. 19 report that she was leaving the Canadian pension fund to pursue another opportunity.

The appointment is significant because ADIC manages more than $160 billion across a diversified global portfolio and has been adding senior investment executives as it develops its capabilities across private and alternative assets. The Abu Dhabi sovereign investor is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company and has operated as Mubadala’s indirect investment arm since 2018.

Hall-Kimm takes responsibility for global private equity

ADIC said Hall-Kimm will help shape the strategic direction of its private equity department, with responsibility spanning direct investments, co-investments, funds and secondaries.

The appointment was disclosed in an ADIC announcement naming Lori Hall-Kimm private equity CIO, which said she brings experience across the full spectrum of private equity investing and will support the sovereign fund’s global private-market strategy.

Hall-Kimm most recently served as senior managing director and head of global private equity at HOOPP. She joined the Toronto-based pension plan in 2022 and oversaw a private equity platform spanning direct investments, funds and other strategies.

HOOPP said in an earlier profile that Hall-Kimm managed a private equity portfolio of about C$21 billion and a team of more than 20 investment professionals. During her tenure, she also helped establish HOOPP’s venture capital strategy and supported the launch of the pension plan’s first international office in London.

By the time her departure was reported in August, HOOPP’s private equity net assets had reached C$24.2 billion, an increase of approximately 21% from the roughly C$20 billion recorded when she joined.

Mark Cormier and Roman Gula were named acting co-heads of HOOPP’s private equity operation following Hall-Kimm’s departure.

Canadian pension experience adds institutional investing pedigree

Hall-Kimm’s background extends across several of Canada’s major pension investment organizations, giving ADIC an executive familiar with the institutional model that has made Canadian retirement systems influential participants in global private markets.

Before HOOPP, she spent several years at CPP Investments, including roles in direct private equity and funds, secondaries and co-investments. A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing from 2019 identifies Hall-Kimm as an authorized signatory for a CPP Investment Board private holdings entity in a transaction involving Ares funds.

Her earlier career also included investment roles at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and OMERS, as well as Goldman Sachs and TD Securities.

The breadth of that experience is particularly relevant to ADIC because sophisticated sovereign investors increasingly combine external fund commitments with direct investments and co-investments to control fees, increase exposure to selected companies and deepen relationships with private equity managers.

PE NEWSWIRE recently examined a similar institutional model through USS’s recruitment of CalSTRS veteran Robert Ross to oversee a £5.1 billion private equity portfolio, USS said approximately 70% of its private investments are completed directly or through co-investments, illustrating how large asset owners are building more sophisticated internal capabilities rather than relying exclusively on conventional fund commitments.

Hall-Kimm’s experience across funds, secondaries, co-investments and direct private equity gives ADIC similar flexibility as the sovereign investor determines how much capital to deploy internally and how much to allocate through external managers.

ADIC builds out a $160 billion investment platform

ADIC describes itself as a diversified sovereign wealth fund investing globally across asset classes and geographies.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Council institutional profile states that the organization manages more than $160 billion and operates with an endowment-style approach focused on long-term investment returns.

The fund was established in 2007 and became part of Mubadala in 2018.

Private equity is one component of a wider portfolio that includes public markets, hedge funds, real estate and infrastructure. That diversification means the appointment of a dedicated private equity CIO forms part of a broader institutional investment architecture rather than a standalone expansion into alternatives.

ADIC has also been strengthening leadership elsewhere in its private-markets portfolio.

In July, the sovereign investor appointed former BlackRock executive Edward Winter as chief investment officer for real assets. Winter previously worked as a partner with BlackRock’s Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund and now oversees ADIC’s global infrastructure and real estate investments.

The combination of dedicated CIOs for private equity and real assets indicates a more specialized management structure around asset classes that require sourcing, underwriting and portfolio-management capabilities distinct from public securities.

The appointment also arrives as private equity investors confront a more difficult environment for distributions. Longer holding periods and a slower exit market have increased demand for continuation funds, secondaries and other liquidity structures, making portfolio construction and liquidity management increasingly important capabilities for institutional investors.

For ADIC, recruiting an executive whose experience spans Canadian pension funds and multiple forms of private equity investing strengthens its ability to navigate that environment.

The move also completes the picture surrounding Hall-Kimm’s August departure from HOOPP: rather than moving to another conventional pension organization or asset manager, she is taking her institutional private equity experience to one of the Middle East’s largest pools of sovereign capital.