NYC CIO Schloss to help Angelo Gordon grow alternatives business

  • Larry Schloss to become president of Angelo Gordon in November
  • Managed $145B pension system for NYC
  • Lauds public sector work

Schloss will become the tenth member of the 25-year-old, New York-based alternative investment firm’s executive committee, which manages $24 billion of assets.  

“I’ve gotten to know them over the years,” Schloss said of his new firm in an interview with Buyouts. “They have a good business.”

Schloss comes to his new role after four years as chief investment officer and deputy comptroller of the $145 billion New York City Retirement System, which oversees five public pension funds. Schloss said he left the job as part of a “normal government transition” coming at the end of New York City Comptroller John Liu’s term.  Buyouts reported in May that Schloss’s contract would end on Dec. 31.

Schloss recommends public service for other investment pros.

“Public service is spectacularly interesting and more people should do it,” Schloss said.  “You can always return to your private life afterward.”

Schloss said the New York pension had “too many managers and too many commitments” to private equity and other funds, and he worked to pare them down by channeling “more money to less managers.” He also eliminated further allocations to mezzanine and venture capital funds.

During the latter half of its fiscal year ended June 30, New York City committed $500 million each to Apollo Investment Fund VIII from Apollo Global Management and CVC Capital PartnersCVC European Equity Partners VI. The two commitments eclipsed the retirement system’s $425 million pledge last year to Warburg Pincus Private Equity XI as its largest commitment yet to private equity.

In a prepared statement, Schloss said his tenure “made me better appreciate the hard work done by teachers, police officers, firefighters and all of the workers” in the Big Apple.

Outgoing Comptroller Liu ran unsuccessfully for mayor against Bill de Blasio in the Democratic primary. The general election awaits next month.

Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, defeated Eliot Spitzer, the ex-governor of New York, to win the Democratic primary election for the next comptroller of New York City.  Stringer faces a Republican challenger in the general election, but Democrats have held the position for decades.

In a prepared statement, Liu said Schloss helped grow the city’s pension funds by $45 billion to $145 billion, “the largest increase recorded by any NYC CIO ever.”

For the three full fiscal years ending in June 2013, the NYC funds booked an annualized rate of return of 11.9 percent. When Schloss took the job, the NYC funds ten-year return was 2.8% and in the bottom quartile of their large public pension fund peers, Liu said.

Seema Hingorani, head of public equities and hedge funds in the comptroller’s office, has been named interim chief investment officer for the city.

Prior to New York City, Schloss co-founded Diamond Castle and led DLJ’s merchant banking division.