(Reuters) - Blackstone Inc ( BX ) has hired Tyler Dickson, the former global head of investment banking at Citigroup ( C/PN ), 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.