White House Expects to Name New PBGC Head
November 10, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Joshua Gotbaum, an operating partner at private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital, is expected to be named director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) by President Obama, the White House said Monday, according to the New York Times.
Gotbaum, a former chief of the September 11th Fund charity, also served in the administrations of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, according to the news report.
The PBGC’s former director, Charles E. F. Millard, stepped down following the announcement of a Congressional investigation into possible improper interactions with financial services firms at a time when the agency was considering an allocation change (see Millard Invokes Fifth Amendment Rights at Senate Hearing ).
Blue Wolf Capital also faced some scrutiny earlier this year, as founder Josh Wolf-Powers was linked to Steven Rattner, whose private equity firm, Quadrangle Group, came under scrutiny as part of an investigation into potential kickbacks involving New York’s state pension fund (see Report: Auto Czar’s Investment Firm Focus of Pay-to-Play Probe ). The New York Times reported in April that following a meeting with Wolf-Powers, Rattner hired a firm that had been run by Hank Morris, a now-indicted associate of New York’s former comptroller.
However, following the report, Wolf-Powers denied that he had directed “Mr. Rattner or anyone else to hire Hank Morris, Searle, or any other placement agent, and any suggestion that I did is false.”