text: New York City Employees Retirement System committed $250 million to hedge fund-of-funds manager Permal Group, confirmed Michael Loughran, a spokesman for city Comptroller John C. Liu.
  The commitment is pending contract negotiations, Mr. Loughran wrote in an e-mail. The city comptroller's office had recommended that the system hire Permal, he added. Mr. Liu is investment adviser, custodian and trustee of the five city pension funds with combined assets of $113.4 billion.
  The $39.6 billion city employees fund is the second of the city's public pension funds to hire Permal: The $23.1 billion New York City Police Pension Fund committed $150 million earlier this month.
  The board of the city employees plan approved the commitment “in order to further diversify the fund's investment portfolio,” Mr. Loughran wrote in the e-mail. The allocation will come from the NYCERS Opportunistic Equity portfolio; he wouldn't elaborate.
  NYCERS has not specified a hedge fund target allocation, he added.