Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund and the $50.8 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., Juneau, made a total of $300 million in commitments to a new joint venture to invest in timberland managed by alternative investments manager Silver Creek Capital Management and real estate investment trust Plum Creek Timber Co., officials from both plans confirmed.
Oregon’s $200 million commitment to the joint venture, which is called Twin Creeks Timber, was announced during an oral presentation at the Sept. 9 meeting of the Oregon Investment Council, Tigard, which runs the $69.7 billion Oregon PERF, Salem, council spokesman Michael Cox said in an e-mail. The commitment was made earlier by the alternatives committee.
An Alaska Permanent Fund spokeswoman confirmed its $100 million commitment but had no further information.
This is Silver Creek’s first foray into real assets, said Bob Ratliffe, a senior partner and managing director at Silver Creek. Plum Creek is investing a combination of timber properties and capital, and will own 25% of the venture.
The joint venture has a 15-year initial life span and has a lower fee structure than the typical private equity-style fund, Mr. Ratliffe said. The firms are targeting a total of $1 billion in commitments and a total of five public pension fund investors, he said. As previously reported by Pensions & Investments, the $106.8 billion Washington State Investment Board, Olympia, made a $300 million commitment to Twin Creeks.
