James Celestine

joined the Office of the New York State Comptroller in 1996. Mr. Celestine serves as Director of the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s Real Assets allocation. As head of this allocation, he oversees a diverse portfolio mix which includes allocations to agriculture, commodities, energy, infrastructure and timber. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Celestine served as portfolio manager and head trader of the Fund’s internally managed domestic equity portfolio with total assets exceeding $45 billion. Mr. Celestine has been an active participant on many of the Fund’s technology initiatives including the development of a proprietary order management system, electronic trade routing and straight through processing. Prior to joining the Fund, he worked as a financial analyst for Citigroup’s public finance unit. He earned a B.S. in economics from the State University of New York at Albany.