Investment strategies for northern cash windfalls: learning from the Alaskan experience

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971) and the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund (1976) provided Native and non-Native Alaskans with two means of trust capital investment. To date Native Alaskans have largely chosen a strategy of investment in local establishment and/or new businesses, while the Permanent Fund has pursued a portfolio management strategy. Both investment means were examined against their stated end. Given that the current situation in the Canadian North parallels the situation in Alaska in the 1970s, the authors propose a strategy for the creation of a model developmental natural resource trust fund based on the best features of the Alaskan models. This model fund combines a portfolio management trust philosophy with the goal of sustainable economic development in the quest for northern fiscal autonomy. -from Author