ALA is all its varied forms is nothing more than a shuttle for nutrients. It sensitizes the body to insulin, thereby requiring less to be released, which could partly affect how nutrients are stored. But the kicker is that it is indiscriminant about which tissue it sensitizes, acting on both muscle and fat. It is also a great anti-oxidant.
YG and AP, ect. act in the same manner, sensitizing the body to insulin, but claims to only act on muscle tissue which is how it partitions nutrients.
To get partitioning with ALA, you could try sticking some quercetin in with it like DS used in glucophase.