The four finalists looking to head the corporation that oversees the Alaska Permanent Fund include a former state revenue commissioner and a retired university chancellor.
The search was prompted by the loss of Mike Burns, the longtime executive director who passed away this summer after retiring in June because of health reasons.
In nearly a dozen years, Burns helped build the fund into a powerhouse exceeding $50 billion.
With the state facing multibillion-dollar deficits because of low oil prices, the huge cache could play a critical role in the future, providing not only dividend checks as it's done for years but also helping to balance the state's budget.
That makes the selection of the next top executive, who will start at between $202,000 and $303,000, critically important.
The finalists, winnowed from an original field of 18 by APFC officials, will be interviewed publicly at a corporation board meeting Oct. 7 in the corporation's Juneau offices. An hour and a half has been set aside for each interview.
In order of their scheduled appearance, they are:
- Angela Rodell, former Revenue commissioner under Gov. Sean Parnell, and as such, was one of the boards six trustees. Before coming to Alaska in 2011, Rodell was senior vice president of investment bank First Southwest Company in New York for seven years, with a compensation that reached $265,000. In her application, she lists Parnell and Republican Sen. Anna MacKinnon as two of five references.
- Brian Rogers, University of Alaska Fairbanks chancellor for seven years, he earned $312,000 before retiring in August. Rogers says in his application that he helped craft the Permanent Fund corporations strategy in its early days, as a state House representative beginning in 1979. Among his five references, Rogers, who served on the Walker-Mallott fiscal policy transition team last year, lists Pat Pitney, state budget director for Gov. Bill Walker and Rogers vice-chancellor for administration, as well as Joe Beedle, chief executive of Northrim Bank.
- Alexander Slivka, director of institutional marketing for McKinley Capital Management in Anchorage where he has worked 18 years, earning $340,000 in 2014. McKinley Capital manages a $714 million global stock portfolio for the states Permanent Fund, giving Slivka longtime experience with APFC staff. Among five references, he includes Rob Gillam, his supervisor at McKinley Capital Management and the son of Bob Gillam, the companys founder.
- Glenn Cipriano, president of Alaska USA Trust Company, where he worked for eight years. His position was eliminated in 2014 in a reorganization, his application notes. He said he was responsible for all activities of the $55 billion trust company and earned $158,000 a year plus bonus. He says he is chair of the Investment Advisory Commission for the Municipality of Anchorage, involved in managing the municipality's cash and long-term investment portfolios. He lists Slivka as one of his references as well as William Eckhardt, president of Alaska USA federal credit union.
The six-member board of trustees will make the final choice after the public board meeting next month, possibly that evening in executive session.