Todd Smith

Todd has served institutional investors and fund sponsors as both outside counsel and inside counsel, including during his unique experience serving as lead tax counsel at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for the fund’s investments in the Americas.

Todd has experience in representing investors and sponsors in tax structuring and negotiation for private equity, real estate, infrastructure, hedge fund, and public market transactions. He has advised clients on tax, legal, and commercial issues related to forming partnerships, joint ventures, investment platforms, co-investments, and mergers and acquistion transactions. Todd advises UAE and internationally based clients on the UAE corporate income tax consequences of their activities, including appropriate investment structures and qualification for free zone and other exemptions. His experience ranges from serving in-house internationally and at a Big Four accounting firm to private practice at another global law firm. Todd has spent time with the US government as a law clerk to the US Senate Committee on Finance. He has managed general US inbound real estate tax issues, including Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) and real estate investment trust (REIT) issues, in addition to ensuring proper management and compliance with Section 892 for sovereign investors. As a senior member of ADIA’s legal division, he worked with international investors in developing investment and tax policies and provided advice at all stages of the investment cycle.