Barry Miller of NYC’s Pension Fund: Secrets to GP Success

One of the largest limited partners in the world had a challenge – its private equity portfolio was “just too diversified,” according to Barry Miller, Head of Private Equity, New York City Employees’ Retirement System. Under Miller’s leadership, the pension fund tapped the secondary market and began a strategy of paring GP relationships in order to position its portfolio for future out-performance.

Privcap’s interview with Miller is essential viewing for anyone wishing to get inside the mind of a new breed of sophisticated private capital allocators. Topics discussed include: what Miller looks for in a GP team, why the ability to return capital is at a premium, the stark difference between manager selection in the buyout versus the venture markets, why failure to return LP phone calls may impair your next fund raise, the aftermath of the “over-commitment” strategy, and why Miller firmly believes that the ability of investors to meet actuarial assumptions will rest on putting “a significant amount of your capital into private equity.”