MONEY MATTERS
MONEY MATTERS
• AIMCo . ( Alberta Investment Management Corp )— this crown corporation manages the Alberta Government and Local Authorities Pension Plans and the holdings of several other trusts and funds like the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Trust Fund . ◊ Investment assets —$ 81 billion
• ATRF ( Alberta Teachers ’ Retirement Fund )— this independent public corporation manages the Alberta Teachers ’ Pension Plan . ◊ Investment assets —$ 11 billion
• City of Edmonton — The City of Edmonton established a legacy fund created from the sale of Edmonton Telephones . ◊ Investment assets —$ 1.4 billion
• Albertans ’ TFSA accounts — savings that have been registered in Tax Free Savings Accounts since 2009 ◊ Investment assets —$ 20 + billion
• Albertans ’ RRSP accounts — savings that have been registered in RRSPs since 1957 ◊ Investment assets —$ 150 + billion
• Cumulatively this totals over $ 263.4 billion !
In these five examples , there are over ¼ trillion dollars sitting in investment accounts . Is it fair to say that there is no shortage of money in Alberta ?
The dichotomy ( and the travesty ) is that virtually none of this money is currently being directed to fulfill the needs that the Premier has described . So why does the Premier go ‘ hat in hand ’ and beg for help from the bankers in Eastern Canada and the USA ? Wouldn ’ t you think he could simply walk across the street and ask the folks who manage these massive caches of money to direct some of it toward the needs he has identified ? So what is missing ? As I wrote in my article titled “ It ’ s your
Money ” in the last edition , “ people ( in droves ) have yielded their decisions about their money to the new army of ‘ investment advisors ’ that populate our financial institutions .” I can easily say the same condition exists with the people who manage the massive funds I listed above .
Metaphorically speaking , we ( collectively ) need to get our heads out of the sand . If there are investment opportunities in Alberta , surely the first people who should get the right to invest in them should be Albertans and the funds that hold these massive amounts of money ( in trust ) for Alberta . One of my close friends mentioned how disgusted he was that Syncrude sold off a large portion of their equity to an Asian-based investment group . He asked me why Syncrude ’ s equity wasn ’ t offered to Albertans first . What is missing is a process and the infrastructure to be able do that .
Would Albertans invest in Alberta ? Of course they would if they had the confidence that the projects and companies that were presented had promising futures . Any such solution to this dilemma must be built locally and managed locally .
We really need to get this done , and get it done right . There are two compelling reasons to resolve this issue quickly : 1 . It could mitigate the boom and bust nature of our economy . Otherwise boom and bust will plague us over and over .
2 . It could give Albertans an ‘ Alberta return on their money .’ What better way to show patriotism and reward !
Other than our group , I don ’ t know of anyone else working on this problem . Go to www . proventurespathway . com or e-mail me at battyj @ telus . net if you would like to know more or if you have any questions .
Joseph Batty ’ s long history in financial management has made him a recognized authority . His experience with financial matters has covered a range from structuring knowledge-rich companies to capitalization of intangible assets . news & views SUMMER 2015 | 19