Alaska Department of Administration

Alaska Department of Administration

The Alaska Department of Administration's Division of Retirement and Benefits administers the Alaska National Guard and Naval Militia Retirement System, a defined-benefit plan for eligible military personnel. Commissioner Paula Vrana leads the department, with Kathy Lea directing the division and Alysia Jones serving as liaison to the Alaska Retirement Management Board. State Investment Officer James Cheng handles broader Department of Revenue investment matters that interface with the system. The pension allocates across a wide range of strategies unusual for a sub-$50M plan: buyout, early-stage venture (seed through start-up), expansion and late-stage venture, and special situations. It participates in the state's Short-term Fixed Income Pool and maintains securities lending collateral as separate vehicles. The system's investor-participant status in Climate Action 100+ and the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative reflects a governance tilt toward climate-aware stewardship through its contracted asset managers. The Division of Retirement and Benefits operates from Juneau with a lean administrative footprint. Staff headcount is not publicly reported. The system's external club affiliations — professional networks rather than deal-by-deal co-investment clubs — indicate a preference for policy influence and manager engagement over direct deal sourcing. No dedicated investment committee or board outside existing state oversight structures is evident. The plan's structural differentiator resides in its hybrid posture: a small, single-state military pension employing a venture-heavy allocation more typical of an endowment. This design compresses institutional diversification into a compact portfolio, embedding within Alaska's broader retirement apparatus while maintaining a distinct, risk-seeking mandate for its uniformed beneficiaries.