Alaska Commits $250M To Oaktree

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. hired Oaktree Capital Management LP in late June to manage a portion of the limited partner’s distressed debt allocation, committing $250 million to the firm’s OCM Opportunities Fund VIII LP, a new vehicle created to invest in distressed debt opportunities.

Through the fund, Oaktree Capital Management will invest in the distressed debt of large, fundamentally sound but overleveraged companies on a global basis. The firm often takes a leadership role in the restructuring process but not an equity or control position in the reorganized company. Oaktree Capital Management collected $10.9 billion for OCM Opportunities Fund VIIb LP, holding a final close in June 2008.

In late May, Alaska approved a new private equity investment policy resolution that includes a $500 million commitment for its fiscal year 2010, which began July 1, 2009. The amount will be divided between Boston-based HarbourVest Partners LLC, a Boston fund-of-funds manager hired in December to oversee a separate global private equity portfolio discretionary account, and Pathway Capital Management, an Irvine, Calif.-based firm that manages two private equity portfolios for the LP.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.’s target allocation to private equity is 6 percent, with a range of 1 percent to 11 percent. The actual private equity allocation stood at 2.3 percent, as of May 31. Private equity commitments made in 2008 include those to Blackstone Capital Partners VI; Candover 2008; CVC European Equity Partners V; First Reserve XII; Madison Dearborn Capital Partners VI; Onex Partners III; Sentinel Fund IV; and TPG Partners VI.

The Alaska Permanent Fund has $31 billion in assets under management.