NYC Names LBO Chief For Pension Funds

New York City’s $100 billion pension fund investments will be overseen by the chairman of buyout shop Diamond Castle Holdings, Comptroller John Liu said on Jan. 7.

The appointment of Larry Schloss, who will become the city’s top pension investment officer, prompted speculation that the five funds will put more dollars to work in private equity. Liu’s choice was reported on Dec. 5 by Thomson Reuters’ private equity Web site peHUB.

The Democratic comptroller, in a statement, made it clear he believed the current system needed an overhaul.

New Yorkers can count on Schloss to improve the pension funds and “to burnish the public image of our City’s pension fund investments,” Liu said.

Before co-founding Diamond Castle Holdings, Schloss ran global private equity for Credit Suisse First Boston. He joined the Swiss bank after it acquired Donaldson, Lufken & Jenrette; the merchant banking team he led included alternative assets.

(Reporting by Joan Gralla)