THE Marianas Public Land Trust’s net assets increased by $22,941,526 in fiscal year 2021, according to its annual report.
The report, which was submitted to the Legislature last week, stated that MPLT’s performance return went up by 21.4% in fiscal year 2021, “an outstanding growth” compared to 5.8% in the previous year.
The report states that the $22.9 million increase in net assets “was primarily due to increased investment valuations.” This shows that MPLT “has been meeting the targeted return for the asset allocation in accordance with its Investment Policy Statement.”
It also indicates “that the Trustees are closely monitoring the performance of MPLT’s money managers and implementing a sound asset allocation strategy and policy,” the report added.
MPLT’s new money manager is Pacific Income Advisors while its current investment consultant is Raymond James & Associates.
The MPLT report stated that its investment revenue for 2021 was $2,740,012, adding that its net capital gains investment strategies performed better in 2021 than in 2020.
“The expectations of 2021 initially were incredibly positive until the crisis of the pandemic caused the world economies to crash. But due to the Federal Reserve pumping massive liquidity into the economy, the stock market did perform better than expected,” the MPLT report said.
MPLT also noted that its investment horizon is long-term, and investment cycles of three to five years may reflect volatility.
Still, the trustees “anticipate being able to continue adding value to the portfolio in accordance with their investment strategy, as well as to continue to provide reliable distributions to the general revenue of the Commonwealth,” the report added.
