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The Alaska Permanent Fund Loses $10 billion

Posted by: Ben Levisohn on November 04

On Sunday, the Anchorage Daily News reported that the Alaska Permanent Fund, formerly home to $40.4 billion in investments, fell to $33 billion in the 3rd quarter, before losing another $3 billion last month. Here’s a breakdown of the Alaska Permanent Fund’s losses:

Non-U.S. stocks — down 22.5 percent
Global stocks — down 17 percent
U.S. stocks — down 8.1 percent
Private equity and hedge funds — down 9.1 percent
Foreign bonds — down 3 percent
U.S. bonds — down 1.6 percent
Real estate — up 0.2 percent

The fund reinvests Alaska’s oil and gas royalties and the income is used to write checks to Alaskan’s each year. Thanks to its accounting rules, which base checks on a five year average, and the fact that Alaska’s fiscal year ends in June, which gives the State 9 months to recoup the cash, Alaska residents can still expect a check next year — though perhaps one smaller than the $2,069 each received in 2008.

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