Blackstone taps Citi veteran Tyler Dickson for a key role in credit business

(Reuters) – Blackstone (NYSE:) Inc has hired Tyler Dickson, the former global head of investment banking at Citigroup, to lead client relations for its credit and insurance unit, the private equity firm said on Tuesday.

The new role will oversee Blackstone Credit & Insurance’s (BXCI) Institutional Client Solutions team, and more broadly partner on BXCI’s origination efforts with borrowers around the world.

Dickson, a 30-year veteran at Citi, was recently serving as the head of investment banking and vice chair of banking and international.

Private equity firms have been lately moving towards the fast-growing business of credit. As banks’ capital got tied up in risky loans and interest rates rose, groups of banks were providing less financing via traditional syndicated loans. At such a time , private lenders such as Blackstone have stepped in.

Blackstone last year brought its groups that invest in corporate credit as well as a business that manages money for insurers under one umbrella, and named the segment Blackstone Credit & Insurance, or BXCI.