Irish pension's alternatives director joins General Atlantic

Global growth equity firm General Atlantic has hired former Irish national pension officer Ronan Cunningham to join its investor relations team.
 
Cunningham, who helped establish the private equity wing of the €20.5 billion ($32 billion) Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund, will work with General Atlantic investor relations head Tom Tinsley on expanding the firm’s capital base.
 
While at the Ireland pension, which funds the future costs of Irish social welfare and public service pensions, Cunningham oversaw an 8 percent allocation to private equity, totaling roughly €3 billion in assets.

 
Cunningham’s hire is the most recent example of General Atlantic's global recruitment drive. In January, the firm recruited John Bernstein from Advent International’s European tech and telecoms team as managing director of its London office.
 
Last September, the firm brought in managing directors Ranjit Pandit from McKinsey and Jeff Leng from Warburg Pincus to the firms’ Mumbai and Hong Kong offices, respectively.
 
It is not known in which of General Atlantic's eight offices worldwide Cunningham will be working. He will officially take up the job later this summer.
 
Connecticut-based General Atlantic manages roughly $17 billion in capital, relying primarily on high net-worth individuals for its investor base.