Details of a $150 million (€95 million) investment package in infrastructure in the North are to be unveiled later today in New York.
The announcement by the New York City Pension Funds comes at the end of First Minister Ian Paisley’s four-day visit to the US in preparation for next month's investment conference in the North.
The pension fund may consider further investment, possibly up to $750 million (€472 million), depending on the performance of the initial investment, sources close to the deal said.
I have not come here as a beggar. I have come to say, if you help us, you'll be helping yourselves. Rev Ian Paisley
In Washington yesterday, Dr Paisley briefed members of Congress and Bush administration officials on preparations for next month's conference, which he described as a unique opportunity for the North's economy.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness is due to join Dr Paisley in New York later today.
"This will be an historic event and it will be, I believe, the turning in the road for us as far as our economy is concerned," Dr Paisley said at a dinner in Washington on Wednesday night.
"I have not come here as a beggar. I have come to say, if you help us, you'll be helping yourselves. We want you to come and share in the possibility of bringing Northern Ireland back in this world of ours to the place it once had."
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg will represent President George W. Bush at the conference in Belfast, which the US administration views as an important step towards cementing political progress in the North.
"I'm not given to exaggeration when I describe things, but we have had a miracle in Northern Ireland," Dr Paisley said.
"The atmosphere is different. The two sides to the dispute, if we might use those words, have come together, and there is a greater understanding of what motivates each side."
Dr Paisley paid tribute to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, recalling their joint visit to the Battle of the Boyne site last year. "That was the beginning, I believe, of a new relationship between ourselves and the Republic of Ireland.
"Unselfishly, the Irish Republic has helped us and I would not be doing what I must do if I did not put that firmly on the record."