Asset manager Gresham House has appointed its first general counsel in its 162-year history.

The AIM-listed, U.K.-headquartered fund, founded in 1857, currently has assets under management of £2.3 billion.

It has hired former Slaughter and May private equity lawyer Samee Khan from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) as its inaugural general counsel. Khan joined AIDA in 2014 and established and led the sovereign wealth fund's legal and compliance function within its private equity arm.

Before AIDA, he spent 11 years at private equity house SVG Capital, where he worked closely with Gresham House chief Tony Dalwood and head of strategic equity Graham Bird.

Dalwood said in a statement: "His strong background in developing solutions across private and public equity and knowledge of our strategic equity approach will be invaluable during Gresham House's next phase of growth."

Before moving to SVG, where he spent a decade, Samee trained and qualified at Slaughter and May.

At SVG, he was involved in the structuring and development of private equity solutions, negotiating private and public equity investments, and handling corporate finance matters. He was also a member of its fund management risk committee.