THE Marianas Public Land Trust’s total assets amounted to $119,412,649 as of May 31, 2023.
In a report to the Legislature, the MPLT board stated that its assets under management as of May 31, 2023 amounted to $104,650,658, plus the $14,761,991 in diversified local investment for a total of $119,412,649.
MPLT said it distributed a total of $69,362,636 to the CNMI government’s general fund, plus $6,916,163 to the American Memorial Park Fund as of Sept. 20, 2022.
MPLT also reported that it had provided financial assistance to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the Tinian municipality and the CNMI government during unforeseen financial difficulties and calamities.
In a financial statement prepared by Ernst & Young, (CNMI) Inc., MPLT provided the following highlights:
• The assets of MPLT decreased in 2022 by $19,779,089 from the amount in 2021. This was due primarily to the decrease in the fair market value of its investments.
• Total liabilities for 2022 decreased by $954,535 from 2021 due primarily to net changes to amounts due to brokers, accounts payable and accrued expenses.
• The above changes resulted in a decrease of $18,824,554 in total fund balance for 2022.
• Total revenues of MPLT are a combination of gains attributable to the valuation of investments plus income earned on such investments and distributions received from the Department of Public Lands. Total operating revenues for 2022 and 2021 were $15,285,356 and $24,678,749, respectively.
• The total performance of MPLT for 2022 and 2021 was -15.66% and 21.4%, respectively.
• The overall administrative costs for 2022 increased by $167,454 over the amount for 2021. This was due primarily to the increases in money management fees, professional fees, salaries, and consultancy fees.
MPLT stated that 2022 was not “favorable due to inflation and fears of a worldwide recession.”
“The resulting outlook for the next several years is not as strong as recent years, but the Trust has a long-term time horizon and is prepared to whether any poor economic conditions. Accordingly, the Trust will be reviewing options for its current investment allocation in order to manage its risk-adjusted yields. The Trust may make changes to its asset allocation, but the basic investment approach will remain the same,” MPLT stated.
MPLT’s new investment manager is the Pacific Income Advisors.
MPLT terminated the contract of its previous investment manager, Chartwell Investment Partners, because its mother company was acquired by MPLT’s investment consultant, Raymond James & Associates.
MPLT is a constitutional trust whose primary purpose is to manage the net revenues from the leasing of CNMI public lands. The Department of Public Lands, for its part, is responsible for the management of the CNMI public lands.
