UK fund manager wins $2 billion FX mandate from Alaska fund

London-based currency manager Adrian Lee & Partners said on Tuesday the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation had awarded it a mandate to manage $2 billion of international foreign exchange exposure. The Alaska Fund, which manages roughly $62 billion in assets, posted a return of 2.05 percent as of Aug. 31, outperforming a target return 1.04 percent for the same period, according to its website.
Its long-term investment goal is to achieve an average real rate of return of 5 percent per year, the fund said. The US fund, however, was not available to comment. In an interview with Reuters, Adrian Lee said mandates like that of Alaska's do not happen overnight, noting that it usually takes 18 months to get the deal done. "It is not dependent on the short-term appetite for the dollar," Lee said. The contract from Alaska pushed Adrian Lee & Partners' assets to $12.7 billion. Lee said the firm's assets have grown 35 percent over the last year.