Christopher Witkowsky

The state’s comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, has banned the use of placement agents in investments with the $122bn pension, and has launched a review of pension investments with firms involved in the New York Common kick-back scandal.

The Florida-based turnaround firm, which has had a string of portfolio companies seek bankruptcy since last year, will use $150m from its $1.5bn Fund IV and its $6bn Fund V for growth investments in the fourth fund.

Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York, has accused a former political leader of collecting $800,000 in sham finder’s fees for directing pension investments to two private equity firms.

The turnaround specialist, which has seen about 10 of its portfolio companies tumble into bankruptcy since last year, has extended debtor-in-possession loans to two of its bankrupt companies and plans to control them after they emerge from Chapter 11.

The distressed investment specialist is surrendering all its stock in Thornburg Mortgage and has resigned its board seats. The residential mortgage lender has been given a grace period by lenders to come up with a restructuring plan.

David Loglisci and Henry Morris, a former political advisor to the US public pension, allegedly extracted sham ‘finder’s fees’ from private equity and hedge funds including Carlyle, Riverstone, Aldus, Falconhead, Odyssey, Access Capital, GKM Newport, Pequot and PCG.

Candover Investments has entered talks with interested parties on 'a range of options', including a possible takeover. The listed fund, which approached The Blackstone Group as it explores its options, has seen a 90% decline in its share price since its high last September.

The pension is committed to building its fledgling private equity portfolio and forecasts meeting its targeted 8% allocation to the asset class by 2013, with commitments totaling $3.8bn.

Some of the world’s biggest private equity firms – including KKR, Blackstone, Carlyle, Permira, Providence, Apax and Apollo – have committed to consider environmental, social and corporate governance issues when making investments.

The Southern California-based private equity advisor will manage AMP’s Future Directions Private Equity Fund and act as the firm’s ‘exclusive’ partner in Australia and New Zealand.