Read full reporting from the North Dakota Monitor here.
Representative Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, sponsored a law last year that ordered Legacy Fund transparency via a new website. The site is being praised by Gov. Armstrong for its usability, but Satrom has some qualms in that the website does not provide any new information, just the same information that was available, but in a new, easier to read format.
Jacob Orledge from the North Dakota Monitor reports that the website covers the fund’s history, how the legislature spends the earnings, and explains the roles different parts of government have in the investment of the fund.
The hope is that information will be easier to browse for the average person, clearing up questions about the fund’s usage that the Treasurer’s office frequently hears.
However, Satrom is unsatisfied with the fact that pooled funds (a.k.a. commingled funds) are still private. The website currently lists $6.4 billion in investments in which each specific investment is not listed. That makes up 42% of the fund, according to Orledge’s reporting.
The article says that these are staying private as they are considered confidential under North Dakota’s open records laws. The Retirement and Investment Office says that information is classified as it would give up the external manager’s strategy, but Satrom hopes to propose a law to address this transparency issue, as he is concerned these hidden investments could be risky, and that North Dakotans would not approve of them if they knew more.
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