Replies to post #347997 on Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[nwsun]

what socialism.. where do i cash in... should i become a corporation and do business with the DOD or should i become a bank and use less than honest business practices and then ask for assistance? so, where do i cash in...

[Soul Washer]

(JULY 28) – The Alaska Permanent Fund returned -3.6% for the fiscal year and ended June 30 with a balance of $35.9 billion after paying a $1.3 billion dividend, according to unaudited figures released Friday by the Corporation. The Fund began the fiscal year with an audited value of $37.8 billion.


“Considering the large returns we have seen for the last several years, including last year’s 17.1% return, a correction in the market wasn’t surprising,” said Michael Burns, Chief Executive Officer. “Rising commodity prices, the weak dollar, and the problems with subprime mortgages and the related credit crunch, certainly made for a challenging year.”

The Fund’s bond portfolios were the positive performers for the year, helping mitigate some of the losses on the stock side. Bond managers were able to take advantages of weaknesses in the market, and the US portfolio returned 6.2% for the fiscal year, while the non-US portfolio was up 10.9%.

“The volatility that we’ve seen in the stock markets in the last nine months, and in March in particular was dramatic,” said Burns. “At the time of the Bear Stearns collapse, the Fund lost $650 million in two days, and then made it all back on the third day when the Dow went up 420 points.”

Stock portfolios reflected this volatility, with the Fund’s US portfolio returning -11.7%, the non-US portfolio returning -5.5% and the global portfolio returning -10.2%.

Real estate largely held steady for the year, returning 1.2%, and the Fund’s absolute return portfolio was also in positive territory with a return of 1.4%.

“The thing to keep in mind in all of this is that if you are a long term investor, you are going to see markets go up and down, and you have to build a portfolio that can prosper and grow through all markets,” said Burns. “Our investment goal is a 5% real rate of return over ten years, and we continue to make that goal.”

The Permanent Fund received $844 million in oil royalty deposits, and earned $2.9 billion in statutory net income, the amount used to calculate the dividend. This month the Corporation transferred $1.3 billion to the Permanent Fund Dividend Fund to pay dividends to eligible Alaskans this fall, $300 million more than was paid in FY07.

Final audited returns and balances for the fiscal year will be reported at the Permanent Fund’s annual meeting in Juneau on September 22 & 23.

http://www.apfc.org/home/Content/home/index.cfm

[samaelrocks]

Highline, I have to take Soul Washer's position here. The "catching wild pigs" story is a good one but is a metaphor for people paying earned income to the government in exchange for socialized services.

Alaska sold a natural resource that wasn't taken from anyone (like your hard earned money), to private businesses. Instead of the local government squandering the revenue on pork initiatives, they promised a fund that would pay dividends to Alaskans.

The local Alaskan government did very well by their people, IMO.

Soul Washer - I'll have to do more research into what you've posted.