Alaska carves out $400m for infra

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation has carved out a $400 million allocation to infrastructure for its 2012 fiscal year and may search for new infrastructure managers, according to a statement issued by the fund’s board of directors.

The $400 million would add to the $1.4 billion Alaska Permanent Fund has already committed to infrastructure through its existing managers, Citi Infrastructure Investors, Global Infrastructure Partners and Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners. Of the $1.4 billion committed, at least $547 million has already been drawn, according to the fund’s 2010 annual report.

The $40 billion fund has a 3 percent target allocation to infrastructure as part of a larger 18 percent real asset class target.

The fund’s trustees also approved its staff “to conduct a search for new infrastructure managers if deemed necessary”, meaning that fund managers other than Citi, Global Infrastructure Partners and Goldman Sachs may be eligible for a part of the $400 million allocation available next year. Global Infrastructure Partners is also raising a successor to its first fund, which is targeting $6 billion.

The trustees approved the allocation at their regular meeting on 19 May in Anchorage, which focused on alternative investment allocations more broadly.

Besides infrastructure, the board also approved a $600 million allocation to new private equity investments, $750 million to private credit, also targeted for the 2012 fiscal year beginning 1 July.

The private equity investments will be made through existing gatekeepers Pathway Capital Management and HarbourVest Partners and will be in addition to the $3.1 billion of commitments the fund expects to have in place by 30 June.

The trustees also asked the fund’s general consultant, Callan Associates, to search for managers to invest in timber assets, marking the first time the Alaska Permanent Fund has pursued investments in timber.