Liu shelves pension plan

From the NY Post:

Embattled city Comptroller John Liu has scrapped his controversial plan for an overhaul of the city’s pension system, The Post has learned.

Larry Schloss, Liu’s chief investment officer and deputy overseeing the pension funds, has alerted insiders the proposal is dead, sources said.

With the backing of Mayor Bloomberg, Liu announced with much fanfare last fall a plan to cut the city’s five pension boards out of investment decisions and consolidate that power in new professional management.

But the proposal drew opposition from union leaders, who said they weren’t consulted by Liu before being asked to turn over much of the oversight on pension investments.

Sources told The Post that Liu’s decision to pull the plug on the pension-board overhaul was meant as an “olive branch” for union leaders.

Liu, meanwhile, is salvaging part of the plan that does not require Albany or union approval. He has increased the number of in-house investment staffers by 59 percent.