Whitehorse Liquidity gets anchor commitment from Alaska

  • Whitehorse Liquidity pursues preferred equity strategy
  • Formed by CPPIB veteran Yann Robard
  • Alaska commits $100 mln to Fund I

Whitehorse Liquidity Partners, in the market with its debut fund that focuses on a preferred equity strategy, recently got a big vote of confidence from Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.

Whitehorse, formed in 2015 by former CPPIB secondary executive Yann Robard, is in market targeting $300 million for its debut fund, according to a Form D filing from May 2016. The filing said Fund I had raised $50 million from one investor.

Alaska disclosed in February that it committed $100 million to the firm’s debut fund.

Whitehorse appears to be on its way to its target with the help of a handful of investors, rather than a broad group of limited partners. Robard declined comment.

Robard formed Whitehorse in 2015 along with Partner Michael Gubbels. Robard for 13 years was at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, leaving the system as managing director and head of secondaries and co-investments.

Gubbels, prior to Whitehorse, worked for five years in direct private equity at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – Teachers’ Private Capital. He also worked at OMERS Private Equity.

The firm hired Tim Lu as an analyst in February from Paradigm Capital, where he’d worked for almost two years.

Whitehorse is raising capital to pursue a unique strategy it calls preferred equity. The firm extends lines of equity to managers for add-ons, or distributions to LPs; secondary buyers financing portfolio acquisitions; funds-of-funds that need to generate early distributions for investors; and LPs who want liquidity on existing investments.

Action Item: Reach Yann Robard: yrobard@whitehorseliquidity.com

Deckhand Mac Cox hauls a load of fish into the hold of the commercial salmon seining vessel F/V Renaissance in the waters off the island of Kodiak, Alaska, on Aug. 3, 2008. Photo courtesy Reuters/Lucas Jackson