Alaska Set To Commit $600M In Next Fiscal Year

Below its private equity allocation target, the board of trustees of the $36 billion Alaska Permanent Fund recently approved a total of $600 million for pledges to the asset class for its fiscal-year 2011, which will begin on July 1. If need be, the board also consented to using the $250 million that remains from fiscal-year 2010 during the next fiscal year.

The capital will be divided between HarbourVest Partners LLC, which oversees a separate account for the limited partner, and Pathway Capital Management, which manages two private equity portfolios for the state, according to a fund spokesperson.

In recent months the state has displayed a distinct interest in international buyout funds. Recent pledge recipients include the fourth fund of Abénex Capital, a French mid-market buyout shop (which got a slug of $15 million from Alaska); Advent Latin American Fund V, earmarked for investments in mid-market companies, mainly in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina ($5 million); and CHAMP Private Equity’s CHAMP Buyout III, earmarked for mid-market buyouts in and around Australia ($20 million).

Alaska Permanent Fund’s recent U.S. buyout pledges include ones to mega-buyout fund Bain Capital Fund 2009 ($20 million); mega-buyout fund Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VII ($80 million); lower mid-market shop Gen Cap America’s Southvest Fund VI ($18 million); and growth-equity fund TA Associates XI ($70 million). The state recently illustrated a new-found appetite for mezzanine funds with $500 million worth of such pledges.

As of April 30, the limited partner’s actual allocation to private equity stood at 2.6 percent. Its target allocation to the asset class is 6 percent, with a range of 1 percent to 11 percent.