Pension executive Nicole Musicco joins RedBird Capital as partner

Nicole Musicco, who recently left the role of head of private markets at Investment Management Corp of Ontario, has joined RedBird Capital Partners as a partner, Buyouts has learned.

Musicco joined RedBird’s leadership team in January, according to the New York private equity firm’s website. RedBird has not issued a release about the hire. It declined to comment on this story.

Musicco was with IMCO, a C$63 billion ($47 billion; €42 billion) Canadian pension system, for just over a year. She was a senior managing director with responsibility for the organization’s PE and infrastructure teams, which oversaw a combined C$7.6 billion as of December 2018.

Musicco joined IMCO in late 2018 from Ontario Teachers’​ Pension Plan, where she worked for more than 16 years, most recently as a senior managing director and head of public equities. Before then, she was a managing director in the PE group, which included leading Asia-Pacific operations.

RedBird has a long affiliation with Musicco, the firm notes on its site. RedBird was initially launched in 2014 with an anchor commitment from Ontario Teachers’. Musicco at the time led Ontario Teachers’ PE fund and co-investment program and over 2014-2017 represented the pension fund on RedBird’s investment committee.

RedBird makes long-term investments in growth-oriented, founder-owned companies in North America. It typically invests $25 million to $150 million in platform opportunities in communications, energy, industrials, sports, leisure and hospitality and other sectors.

Founded by Gerry Cardinale, formerly a partner with Goldman Sachs, RedBird is raising its third fund, RedBird Series 2019. Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association committed $150 million to the pool, Buyouts reported in January.

RedBird’s recent platform deals include OneTeam Partners, which helps athletes optimize the value of their name, image and likeness rights. The firm formed OneTeam in December in partnership with the National Football League Players Association and Major League Baseball Players Association, reportedly investing $125 million.

Toronto-based IMCO was created in 2016 by the Ontario government to help public sector pensions and other funds scale and gain access to private-market investments. It presently manages assets of Ontario Pension Board, the administrator of Public Service Pension Plan, and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

Action item: Check out RedBird Capital Partners’ ADV filings here.