How [Wall St.] Firms Wooed a U.S. Agency With Billions to Invest

“He is a lame duck political appointee as soon as the November election occurs,” he wrote to one BlackRock colleague last June, as the bidding was about to start. “When the new man comes in at P.B.G.C., all bets are off for us.”

As he prepared to open the competition, Mr. Millard, working with Mr. Mullane, sought to restrict the bidders to the biggest players by stipulating that the winner must have thousands of employees and a global operation, e-mail messages show. That decision cut out many boutique firms hoping to compete and gave BlackRock, Goldman and other large firms an advantage. "Neither the company nor any of its employees did anything improper or illegal," Bobbie Collins, a BlackRock spokeswoman, said.