By Russell Read and Steve Moseley
“The State of Alaska is rightly known for its frontier spirit and fierce independence. So it may be surprising to some that we at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation attribute strong recent performance in part to the vigour with which we have pursued a strategy of teaming up with outside partners across our $65 billion portfolio. This strategy leverages our institutional strengths (clear mandate, patient capital) and mitigates our weaknesses (small staff, remote location). Partnership is among the most overused (and, too often, abused) terms in asset management. For Alaska, the term has central importance and refers to three categories of partners: fund managers, specialised advisers, and institutional peers. …
… The first category, partnerships with talented fund managers, relies on a critically important task: identifying capable external managers with differentiated skills and sustainable competitive advantages. We seek to team up with these managers to design and implement initiatives that meet their institutional objectives and ours. …
… The second category of partnership is with specialised advisers and consultants, to leverage our internal team, improve deal flow, and enhance our due diligence and transactional capabilities. This category includes investment consultants and outside counsel, plus more specialised advisers that offer skills or intellectual capital that complement our internal resources. …
… The third category of partnership has the potential to be the most powerful and impactful: joining with like-minded institutional investors to pursue important strategic or tactical initiatives. Many institutional investors believe they are competing with their peers for a finite pool of alpha – and this is sometimes the case; however, there are also several areas where common challenges, common goals, and complementary resources create opportunities to join together and create tremendous value for all participants. …
… The spirit of independence is alive and well in Alaska. We believe that the best outcomes follow from an honest assessment of one’s own capabilities and a clear-eyed view of the obstacles ahead. It is our mission to continue to deliver attractive returns for the benefit of all Alaskans and we intend to do that not by chipping away at the fees we pay along the way, but by teaming up with capable partners for the long journey ahead.”
Full opinion piece is available at Top 100o funds.