Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation

Allen Waldrop is Deputy Chief Investment Officer for Private Markets at APFC, where he oversees the firm's private equity, private credit, and real estate programs. He began his career at KPMG and has held accounting, M&A, investment, and consulting roles at various investment and advisory firms. He holds a BS in Accounting from San Diego State University, is a CFA charterholder, and an inactive CPA.

Jim Parise serves as Deputy Chief Investment Officer for Public Markets and Director of Fixed Income Investments at APFC, overseeing a team managing the fund's internal fixed income mandate across US Aggregate, IG Corporate Bond, Global Rates, and TIPS portfolios. He joined the Permanent Fund in 2001 as a Senior Fixed Income Investment Officer and became Director of Fixed Income Investments in 2004. His earlier career included fixed income roles at Cedar Hill Associates, Chapdelaine & Company, and National City Bank, and he holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Ball State University.

Marcus Frampton is the Chief Investment Officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, which he joined in 2012 and where he previously served as Director of Investments for Real Assets & Absolute Return. His earlier career included investment banking at Lehman Brothers, private equity at PCG Capital Partners, and an executive role at LPL Financial. He holds a BA in Business-Economics with an Accounting minor from UCLA and the CFA, CAIA, and FRM designations.

Eric Ritchie is the Senior Portfolio Manager and head of Real Estate at APFC, where he oversees the firm's $9 billion real estate portfolio spanning direct investments, fund investments, co-investments, debt, and REITs. Before APFC, he worked in real estate acquisitions for a Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust portfolio company. He holds a BS in International Finance from the American University of Paris and a Master of Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and is fluent in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Fawad Razzaque directs public equity investments at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, where his work covers asset allocation, external manager selection, and internal equity management. Before joining APFC in 2012, he was a portfolio manager for multimanager strategies at Legato Capital Management, and earlier evaluated investment managers at Russell Investments and A.G. Edwards & Sons. He holds a BS from the University of Engineering & Technology in Lahore and an MBA in Finance from the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Ross Alexander is the Senior Portfolio Manager for Private Income at APFC, where he has worked since 2018 and leads a small team managing the $7.8 billion Private Income Portfolio across infrastructure, private credit, and income opportunities. He originally joined APFC covering infrastructure and real assets before taking over the full Private Income portfolio in 2022, and previously worked on the real assets investment team at the Alaska Retirement Management Board. He holds a BA from Trinity Western University and is a CAIA charterholder.

Valeria Martinez is Director of Total Fund Cash at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, where she leads liquidity management and works to optimize cash deployment and interest income. She joined APFC in 2006, beginning in the Finance team as an accountant for private markets and alternative investments before serving as Risk Analyst and Director of Risk and Asset Allocation on the investment team, contributing to strategic asset allocation, portfolio construction, and risk oversight. She holds a BA in Business Administration and an MBA from the University of Alaska, along with an Executive Certificate in Advanced Risk and Investment Management from the Yale School of Management-EDHEC Risk Institute.

Youlian Ninkov is the Senior Portfolio Manager for Absolute Return at Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, where he oversees a $6.2 billion portfolio focused on selecting and monitoring hedge fund strategies to build a diversified, uncorrelated return profile. He has been with APFC for 12 years, beginning on the Public Equities team as an analyst conducting manager due diligence. His prior experience includes roles at Amundi AI, Credit Agricole Alternative Investments, and Citadel LLC, and he holds dual BS degrees in Finance and Mathematics and an MBA in Finance from Southern Illinois University.

Alex Smith is the investment operations manager at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, where he leads the investment operations team supporting internal fixed income and public equities portfolio management. His team handles data integrity, counterparty onboarding, trading infrastructure, and settlement for internally-managed portfolios, working alongside the Public Finance, Risk, and Compliance teams. Originally from rural western Alaska, he has background in small businesses, commercial fishing, fuel distribution, and maritime operations, and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Chris LaVallee is a Senior Accountant at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, where he has worked for 25 years supporting the Fund's publicly traded investments and leading the Public Finance team responsible for reconciling cash and asset positions and reporting on portfolio holdings and performance. He previously worked as a General Accountant at True North Federal Credit Union and spent nine years as a logger in Alaska earlier in his career. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Alaska Southeast, graduating in 1998.

Chris Poag is General Counsel of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, which he joined in 2014. He previously worked at the State of Alaska Department of Law from 2004, advising state agencies including the Department of Revenue and the Office of the Governor, and earlier practiced as a criminal defense lawyer and contract public defender in Ketchikan. He earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 1997 and clerked for a Superior Court judge in Alaska.

Chairs the Governance Committee of APFC's Board of Trustees, focused on strengthening oversight and performance-benchmarking standards.

Jacki Mallinger leads the Private Finance team at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, overseeing financial operations for the Fund's private market investments and real estate. She joined APFC in 2016 as a finance intern, later worked as a Portfolio Accountant for Public Markets, and moved into her current role in 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Business Management from the University of Alaska Anchorage and became a Certified Public Accountant in 2021.

Jennifer Loesch joined the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation in May 2020 as Executive Assistant, supporting the Executive Director and leadership team and acting as the primary staff liaison to the Board of Trustees. Before APFC, she worked as an Executive Assistant in the Governor's Office in Juneau and served the State of Alaska in various roles for over a decade. She holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Speech Communications from the University of Alaska Southeast.

Kelli Patterson is the Administrative Operations Manager at Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, where she leads the administrative team handling budget management, travel coordination, accounts payable, and in-office support. Before joining APFC, she was the Administrative Officer for the Division of Insurance and has worked for the State of Alaska since 2015. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Paulyn Swanson is Director of Communications at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, a role she has held since 2021 after joining the organization in 2016. She leads the APFC communications team covering public information, legislative communications, media relations, digital platforms, and stakeholder engagement. Before APFC, she spent over 15 years in Alaska state government, including senior roles with the Alaska State Legislature and as Deputy Legislative Director for Governor Parnell. She holds a degree in International Studies and German from the University of Vermont and is Accredited in Public Relations (APR).

Scott Balovich serves as Chief Information Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at APFC, which he joined in April 2017 as a Data Center Systems Engineer before being promoted to lead the department. He has around 28 years of IT experience across the private and public sectors, including federal and state government roles, with a background in network and data center engineering and a decade working as a database engineer and data architect. He studied Computer Science at the University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Phoenix and holds various IT industry certifications.

Sebastian Vadakumcherry serves as Chief Risk & Compliance Officer at Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, which he joined in 2018. His financial services career spans over two decades, including a role as Head of the Risk Management Division at Gulf Investment Corporation in Kuwait. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology in India and an MBA from Texas A&M University.

Shannon Ely McCain is the Director of Human Resources at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, which she joined in 2023, overseeing the organization's human resources functions. Before APFC, she spent more than 18 years in HR leadership roles across Alaska's state and municipal governments, covering labor relations, recruitment, employee engagement, and organizational development. She holds a PSHRA-SCP certification, serves as Secretary of the Southeast Regional SHRM Board, and earned an Associate of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Alaska Southeast.

Valerie Mertz is the Chief Financial Officer at APFC, where she oversees portfolio and corporate accounting, financial and performance reporting, custodial relationships, and administrative operations. She first joined APFC in 1993, later ran her own accounting consultancy, and returned as CFO in 2012. She earned a Bachelor of Accountancy and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with an Economics minor from New Mexico State University, and has been a licensed CPA in Alaska since 1995.