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07-15-2007, 04:20 AM
Alaska Permanent Fund hits record high
by Bianca Slota
Friday, July 13, 2007
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- There is big news for the Alaska Permanent Fund today. As of yesterday afternoon, the value of the fund is just over $40 billion. It is the first time the fund has reached that mark.
What this means is that the fund is continuing to grow at a good pace and, of course, as the total value of the fund increases, so does the size of the annual permanent fund dividend checks.
The very first deposit into the permanent fund was $734,000. Now the fund is earning that much just about every hour.
"I think it's extraordinary for people to put in perspective what the state of Alaska and its people have been able to do over these last 30 years," said Mike Burns, executive director, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.
Because the global economy has been so strong over the last year, the fund earned $7 billion in 12 months.
"It will have the third or fourth best percentage returns in the history of the fund and in dollar terms certainly the largest," said Burns.
All this growth is a big turnaround from just five years ago when the country was in a major recession and the funds returns were dramatically slowed.
And since the PFD check amount is based on a five-year average it's good news for Alaskans.
"It will have a substantial effect on the dividend," said Burns.
Last year $666,779,140.80 was split up among 602,350 people.
This year the permanent fund corporation predicts the total pot to be about $1 billion. Split that up among 600,000 to 610,000 Alaskans and we're looking at the possibility of a $1,639 check, although it's more likely to fall between $1,500 $1,600.
"Of course the existence of the permanent fund dividend helps to protect the corpus of the fund too," said Scott Goldsmith, economist, University of Alaska.
Goldsmith says at $40 billion, the fund has the potential to pump $2 billion in to the economy each year.
"It just underscores how important the permanent fund is to the economy and what an important force it is," said Goldsmith.
And while Goldsmith warns it's impossible to predict future behavior of the fund, the growth we've seen is a testament to how well the fund is handled and should mean good things to come.
There's even more good news. The year 2003 was the last year the fund was not performing well and it will fall out of the PFD equation for next year's check. So we can expect it to be even bigger than this year's.
This past year actually ranks third or fourth in overall growth when you measure it in percentage growth. The late 1990s also saw rapid stock market growth, which led to the highest ever PFD check of $1,963 dollars in 2000.
Off of Ktuu.com
by Bianca Slota
Friday, July 13, 2007
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- There is big news for the Alaska Permanent Fund today. As of yesterday afternoon, the value of the fund is just over $40 billion. It is the first time the fund has reached that mark.
What this means is that the fund is continuing to grow at a good pace and, of course, as the total value of the fund increases, so does the size of the annual permanent fund dividend checks.
The very first deposit into the permanent fund was $734,000. Now the fund is earning that much just about every hour.
"I think it's extraordinary for people to put in perspective what the state of Alaska and its people have been able to do over these last 30 years," said Mike Burns, executive director, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.
Because the global economy has been so strong over the last year, the fund earned $7 billion in 12 months.
"It will have the third or fourth best percentage returns in the history of the fund and in dollar terms certainly the largest," said Burns.
All this growth is a big turnaround from just five years ago when the country was in a major recession and the funds returns were dramatically slowed.
And since the PFD check amount is based on a five-year average it's good news for Alaskans.
"It will have a substantial effect on the dividend," said Burns.
Last year $666,779,140.80 was split up among 602,350 people.
This year the permanent fund corporation predicts the total pot to be about $1 billion. Split that up among 600,000 to 610,000 Alaskans and we're looking at the possibility of a $1,639 check, although it's more likely to fall between $1,500 $1,600.
"Of course the existence of the permanent fund dividend helps to protect the corpus of the fund too," said Scott Goldsmith, economist, University of Alaska.
Goldsmith says at $40 billion, the fund has the potential to pump $2 billion in to the economy each year.
"It just underscores how important the permanent fund is to the economy and what an important force it is," said Goldsmith.
And while Goldsmith warns it's impossible to predict future behavior of the fund, the growth we've seen is a testament to how well the fund is handled and should mean good things to come.
There's even more good news. The year 2003 was the last year the fund was not performing well and it will fall out of the PFD equation for next year's check. So we can expect it to be even bigger than this year's.
This past year actually ranks third or fourth in overall growth when you measure it in percentage growth. The late 1990s also saw rapid stock market growth, which led to the highest ever PFD check of $1,963 dollars in 2000.
Off of Ktuu.com