Permament Fund needs to remember the KISS theory

The Permanent Fund has posted this package of documents online about what it might mean to pursue riskier investments and try to accelerate the growth of the $74 billon fund into a $100 billion fund.

The trustees are considering abandoning the long-held goal of earning 5 percent more than inflation and adopting a higher percentage. There is a special meeting Monday.

One tactic would be to borrow billions to invest, which would lead to larger returns from larger investments. A second would be to shift hundreds of millions or billions from fixed income securities to private equity. A third would be “alpha/outperformance,” meaning setting a goal of beating industry benchmarks.

There is also talk of hiring more staff to make direct private equity investments, which would reduce external fees by millions. The staff gave this example of how a $100 million direct investment by the corporation would save $22 million over four years compared to a $100 million investment in a fund with typical fees.

The documents posted by the fund cover a mind-numbing range of topics.

The problem with most of the 89 pages is that the slides are overloaded with business jargon, indecipherable to most Alaskans. Hiding behind euphemisms and failing to spell things out in English is no way to communicate. The Permanent Fund must learn the value of the KISS theory.

The document package demonstrates to me that the six trustees of the Permanent Fund have no business in trying to approve a new strategic plan Monday that incorporates the fundamental changes raised in these documents. The Legislature and the public have to be more involved.

Among other things: the staff has looked at the possibility of opening a new office in the Lower 48 and one overseas, perhaps London or Singapore; trying to get an exception to the Open Meetings Act; trying to get an exemption to the state procurement code; and trying to get the Legislature to give the trustees more control over moving money within the operating budget.

There is no information at all backing up the case for retaining the traditional goal of aiming for an investment mix that beats inflation by 5 percent. Alaskans deserve to hear that case.

The trustees are to meet Monday in Juneau from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.