Anchorage trustees, city finance staff debate creating dedicated trust manager post

The Anchorage Assembly held a work session on May 16, 2025, to discuss an ordinance amending the definition of “trust manager” in Anchorage Municipal Code 6.50.06 and proposed changes to how the Municipality of Anchorage Permanent Fund (the trust) is staffed and managed.

The proposal before the assembly would place a dedicated trust manager (described in presentations as a director-level, institutional-investments role) under the office of the chief fiscal officer rather than leaving that function in the Treasury division’s deputy treasurer position. Trust board members and municipal staff described the measure as an administrative reallocation intended to ensure the trust has staff with institutional investment experience to support a $400M-plus endowment and the volunteer governing board.

The discussion opened with a 15-minute briefing on the trust’s origin and mission. Presenters said the trust was created after municipal utility sales and is governed by the municipal charter and code; the charter limits the dividend to a maximum of 5 percent and the board currently follows a 4 percent dividend policy. A trust representative summarized: “The purpose of this is to be an endowment in perpetuity, so forever, and to provide a dividend to…