MARIANAS Public Land Trust Chairman Martin Ada said he is happy to inform the public that MPLT’s net position has reached the $100 million mark this year.
In an interview, Ada, who has been the Trust’s chairman for seven years now, said MPLT’s net position went up to $119 million three months ago. Since net position fluctuates depending on the condition of the money market, the Trust has been maintaining its net position at $105 million, he added.
“This never happened before,” Ada said.
MPLT started with a $20 million total asset. When he became a trustee, MPLT’s net position was about $60 million, he said.
He noted that the stock market soared amid the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that MPLT chose its asset classes well, “and is being conservative in allocating investments.”
According to the independent Auditor’s report prepared by Burger Comer Magliari Certified Public Accountants and submitted to the Office of the Public Auditor, MPLT’s net position was $98.4 million in 2020 and $98.2 million in 2019.
The audit report added that MPLT’s outlook for 2021 “appeared to be strong” with a $3,180,656 increase in its total fund balance.
Ada said the good decisions made by MPLT in allocating investments is also attributed to the trustees’ experience and training.
He noted that he and three other trustees are former lawmakers: Pedro Paduna R. Deleon Guerrero, Maria Frica T. Pangelinan and Vianney Hocog of Rota.
The other trustee is Peter Q. Cruz of Tinian.
MPLT is responsible for investing the public land revenue distributed by the Department of Public Lands on an annual basis.
