MOA trust posts gains; board plans staffing, consultant updates and twice‑yearly disbursements

The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) trust reported positive investment performance through mid‑August and said it will pay its annual distribution roughly twice a year, a trust official told the Assembly Budget and Finance Committee on Aug. 21.

The trust’s board chair, Alex Slifka, told the committee that “to update performance through June 30, it's up 6.81% for the year or 455,000,000,” and that as of Aug. 15 the fund’s value was about $465,000,000 with a roughly 9% return for the period.

Why it matters: The trust pays the municipality 4% annually; stronger returns increase money available for city services now and in the future. The board also is making near‑term operational moves — including hiring a director of investment operations and running a request‑for‑proposal (RFP) for a new investment consultant — intended to strengthen management of the fund.

Slifka said the trust is targeting two payouts each year to align with the municipal code and cashflow needs. “We did a thorough study to figure out what was actually was there a best time because code says by December 15. And so what we through the study, we determined that we should pay it on or about June 15 and on or about December 15,” he said. The trust made a June 15 payment of “8 point something million,” and Slifka said the board expects roughly $7,000,000 of the roughly $8,000,000 December payment to be in place by the end of the month after portfolio rebalancing.

The board is also preparing to post a new director of investment operations position to human resources next week and expects to have that manager in place by October. Slifka said the board completed an RFP to update its investment consultant; the current consultant contract was scheduled to end this year and could not be renewed under its terms. The consultant search will be brought to the assembly agenda for consideration on Sept. 9.

Supporting detail: Slifka told the committee the trust has, since the board was empaneled in October 2023, delivered returns “well in excess of inflation plus 4%” over shorter windows but that longer‑term performance remains slightly below an inflation‑plus‑4% objective and that “we do have some work to do to continue to improve the value.” He thanked municipal staff members for supporting the trust’s work.

What’s next: The administration and trust board will present the consultant‑selection request to the assembly on or about the Sept. 9 agenda and plan to post the director role in the coming week. The board’s twice‑yearly payout schedule means June and mid‑December will be key cashflow dates going forward.

For readers: All numeric figures and timing above were reported by Alex Slifka at the Aug. 21 Assembly Budget and Finance Committee meeting; the committee record shows the trust’s study linking the payout schedule to the municipal code requirement to have disbursement by Dec. 15.