Arkansas Treasurer reports $11.16 million in Q4 investment revenue; board accepts report

Treasurer of State Andrew Milligan reported to the State Board of Finance that the treasury's short-term portfolio earned roughly $659,000 for the quarter ended June 30 and the long-term portfolio earned about $10.5 million, producing total investment revenue of $11.16 million for the quarter and $35.4 million year to date. Milligan said the office's repositioning into agency bonds and an investment in Israel Bonds contributed to the gains and noted the portfolio has grown from about $3.5 billion to nearly $5 billion during his tenure.

"My investment team has been relentless in pursuing opportunities to provide our portfolio with as much cost saving and interest-producing opportunities as possible," Milligan said, characterizing the year as "extraordinary" for investors and highlighting the team's monitoring of the bond market.

Milligan described the short-term portfolio as largely tied to federal interest rates and said the office has moved select mortgage-backed securities into higher-yielding agency bonds. He also outlined the portfolio allocation and said the office stands ready to make purchases when market conditions are advantageous to the treasury.

After the presentation, the board had no substantive questions and voted to accept the investment performance report.