Key Takeaways
- • The $160 billion Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) has appointed Edward Winter, a former BlackRock and Macquarie executive, as Chief Investment Officer for Real Assets, effective September 2026, in a newly created role.
- • Winter brings nearly eight years of experience as a partner at Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), BlackRock's infrastructure investment unit, where he currently oversees mid-market funds across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and leads BlackRock's Middle East Infrastructure Fund.
- • In his new position, Winter will oversee investments across global infrastructure and real estate portfolios, including energy, digital infrastructure, and transport infrastructure, reporting to Saoud Al Mulla, ADIC's executive director of real assets.
- • Winter's appointment reflects ADIC's strategic positioning for growth in its real assets business and follows his extensive career at Macquarie Group (13 years total), where he progressed from associate director to managing director.
- • Winter currently holds non-executive board positions at multiple infrastructure and energy companies, including entities within the Saudi Aramco ecosystem (Jafurah Midstream Gas Company, Aramco Gas Pipelines, and Saudi Bahrain Pipeline Co.), positioning him with deep regional infrastructure expertise.
Summary
The Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), a $160 billion sovereign wealth fund, has appointed Edward Winter as Chief Investment Officer for Real Assets in a newly created leadership position, effective September 2026. Winter, a veteran infrastructure and real estate investment professional, will report directly to Saoud Al Mulla, ADIC's executive director of real assets, and will provide unified strategic direction across the fund's infrastructure and real estate portfolios.
Winter joins ADIC from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the infrastructure investment platform of BlackRock, where he has served as a partner for nearly eight years. In his current role at GIP, Winter oversees mid-market infrastructure funds across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa while also leading BlackRock's Middle East Infrastructure Fund, giving him direct experience with the regional investment landscape. His appointment underscores ADIC's commitment to elevating its real assets investment capabilities at a critical growth phase.
At ADIC, Winter's mandate encompasses global investments in infrastructure and real estate spanning multiple sectors: energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and transport infrastructure. According to ADIC's announcement, his track record building and scaling global infrastructure investment platforms aligns directly with the fund's ambitions for its Real Assets portfolio. His appointment comes as Middle East sovereign wealth funds intensify competition for infrastructure and real assets exposure amid global transitions in energy and digital infrastructure.
Winter brings deep sector credentials from his 13-year tenure at Macquarie Group, where he progressed from associate director to managing director, a position he held for nearly four years. This background, combined with his infrastructure expertise at BlackRock's GIP, positions him to navigate complex, large-scale infrastructure transactions across multiple jurisdictions and asset classes. Beyond his corporate roles, Winter maintains significant advisory exposure to regional energy and infrastructure sectors through non-executive directorships at multiple companies, including Jafurah Midstream Gas Company, Aramco Gas Pipelines, Saudi Bahrain Pipeline Co., Medgaz, and several others, cementing his expertise in the Middle East infrastructure ecosystem.
Winter joins ADIC from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the infrastructure investment platform of BlackRock, where he has served as a partner for nearly eight years. In his current role at GIP, Winter oversees mid-market infrastructure funds across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa while also leading BlackRock's Middle East Infrastructure Fund, giving him direct experience with the regional investment landscape. His appointment underscores ADIC's commitment to elevating its real assets investment capabilities at a critical growth phase.
At ADIC, Winter's mandate encompasses global investments in infrastructure and real estate spanning multiple sectors: energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and transport infrastructure. According to ADIC's announcement, his track record building and scaling global infrastructure investment platforms aligns directly with the fund's ambitions for its Real Assets portfolio. His appointment comes as Middle East sovereign wealth funds intensify competition for infrastructure and real assets exposure amid global transitions in energy and digital infrastructure.
Winter brings deep sector credentials from his 13-year tenure at Macquarie Group, where he progressed from associate director to managing director, a position he held for nearly four years. This background, combined with his infrastructure expertise at BlackRock's GIP, positions him to navigate complex, large-scale infrastructure transactions across multiple jurisdictions and asset classes. Beyond his corporate roles, Winter maintains significant advisory exposure to regional energy and infrastructure sectors through non-executive directorships at multiple companies, including Jafurah Midstream Gas Company, Aramco Gas Pipelines, Saudi Bahrain Pipeline Co., Medgaz, and several others, cementing his expertise in the Middle East infrastructure ecosystem.
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