Monday, February 24

Opinion/Research

AIMCo’s investments -Part 1- U.S. equities
14Jan By Bob AscahNo Comments
Agencies, Government Finances, Opinion/Research

AIMCo’s investments -Part 1- U.S. equities

In my recent post describing events at the public meeting of the Standing Committee of the Alberta Heritage Fund I provided an overview of AIMCo's investments in the United States.  In this post, the first of a three part series, I take a deeper look at AIMCo's U.S. portfolio.The next part addresses AIMCo's overall portfolio of about $150 billion and part 3 examines the volatility of Heritage Fund income. Background As an institutional investor with over $100-million in U.S. registered securities AIMCo is required to file a monthly Form 13F.  The filing was utilized by members of the public questioning the wisdom and ethics of certain investments. This externally required disclosure by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission only shows a small proportion of AIMCo's total assets un...
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Heritage Fund annual public meeting- Gaza, transparency, and many unanswered questions
13Jan By Bob AscahNo Comments
Agencies, Investment, Opinion/Research, Politics

Heritage Fund annual public meeting- Gaza, transparency, and many unanswered questions

At the end of November, I attended the public meeting of the Standing Committee of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. Go here to access the transcript of the meeting on 30 November 2023. The previous year I attended the public meeting on 27 October 2022- transcript here. In 2022, I was the only member of the public personally in attendance with others accessing the meeting via phone or social media. This year, there were nine citizens who spent two hours of their time watching the committee and asking Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) and Treasury Board and Finance (TGF) officials questions. In previous years, there was greater public interest with venues as large as the Italian Community Centre booked for larger numbers. I sincerely hope that we will see more inte...
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Spotlight on Year-end Orders -in-Council
1Jan By Bob AscahNo Comments
Health, Opinion/Research, Politics

Spotlight on Year-end Orders -in-Council

Background Government is a complex business and assemblies of elected politicians can not make every decision a modern government must make. So besides passing legislation which sets out very general policies, prescriptions on behaviour, and offences for breaking the law, they delegate the details and decisions to the provincial cabinet.  There is also a very practical reason for doing this since the legislative body is not continuously sitting. Examples of such details or decisions include the Alberta cabinet choosing who sits on the boards of governors of Alberta’s universities and colleges, appointments based on the recommendation and advice of the Minister of Advanced Education. In addition to Orders, legislative assemblies delegate to cabinets the fleshing out the details of ho...
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Alberta government could be on hook for $1.3-billion
17Dec By Bob AscahNo Comments
Agencies, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Alberta government could be on hook for $1.3-billion

Background In March 2020 the Alberta government’s investment manager the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) lost approximately $2-billion due to trading losses. AIMCo had established an investment strategy based on, in effect, insuring counter-parties against volatility trading losses. This strategy was called VOLTs for volatility trading strategy. The losses occur occurred suddenly due to dramatic financial market volatility caused by the declaration of the global COVID pandemic. The impact of these losses was felt most particularly by Alberta’s public sector plans including the Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP), the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) and the Special Forces Pension Plan (SPFF). Soon after the losses were revealed, AIMCo’s board commissioned a study ...
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16Nov By Bob AscahNo Comments
Economic Data, Energy, Environment, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics

Alberta 5, Ottawa 2- Re. Impact Assessment Act (Part 2)

Before turning to the dissenting opinion, it may be instructive to note some of the key points made by the Alberta Court of Appeal (ABCA) in their 10 May 2022 reference decision. The reference opinion may be found at CanLit. ABCA Majority In the majority ABCA opinion, considerable space was devoted to the history, purpose and scope, of the section 92A resource amendment (paras 74-83).  The majority contended Provincial governments should not be faulted for focussing their attention on matters important to their citizens. That includes not only the environment but also the economy. It is a false dichotomy to suggest that the two are mutually exclusive. Without a strong economy, a province’s ability to respond to the needs of its citizens, including meeting the challenges of climate chang...
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Alberta Pension Plan- conversation with retired professors at UofA
6Nov By Bob AscahNo Comments
Demographics, Economic Data, Employment, Financial Institutions, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics

Alberta Pension Plan- conversation with retired professors at UofA

I was excited to present to retired professors from the University of Alberta last Thursday my views on the marketing campaign by the Alberta government to "engage" the public on the supposed benefits of an Alberta pension plan. My focus was on the political messaging. The Youtube video can be viewed here. The political messaging created by the Government of Alberta is an expensive communications effort (close to $10-million of Albertans’ tax dollars). The friendly website "Alberta Pension Plan" begins with “What’s in it for you.”  The web page design is classically an appeal to Albertans’ sense of place and community with pictures of the Rockies and foothills and wistful pictures of a handsome seniors’ couple. The pitch focuses mainly on the benefits that would be supposed...
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A devil’s bargain- Opinion
1Oct By Bob AscahNo Comments
Fiscal History, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

A devil’s bargain- Opinion

You may be an ambassador to England or France You may like to gamble, you might like to dance You may be the heavyweight champion of the world You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls [Chorus] But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed You’re going to have to serve somebody Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord But you’re going to have to serve somebody Bob Dylan-1979 Slow Train Coming We are a province of free riders- free riders on the periodic gusher of oil, bitumen, and natural gas revenues. As such, this bargain has made us, inured us, to low taxes and good public services. And public buildings too,  testaments to Alberta's engineering prowess. When I say "we," that includes me.  I was lured to Alberta by money a decent research assistant-ship stipen...
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An Alberta Pension Plan  (APP): Your Plan, Their Choice
24Sep By Bob Ascah1 Comment
Agencies, Demographics, Financial Institutions, Opinion/Research, Politics

An Alberta Pension Plan  (APP): Your Plan, Their Choice

Updated 25 September 2023 Updated 30 September 2023  “This report shows a made-in-Alberta pension plan could put more money in the pockets of hard-working families and business owners and improve retirement security for seniors. We want to hear from you because it’s your pension, your choice. I’m so excited to hear what Albertans think about a provincial pension plan that could benefit Albertans now as well as our future generations.”     Danielle Smith, Premier In this post I critically examine the upcoming battle between the UCP state, business organizations, and Alberta sovereigntists versus a labour -NDP coalition led opposition of concerned seniors and worried CPP contributors. First, I begin referencing the debate over the past two days and then investigate the central politi...
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Alberta’s continuing devotion to resource revenue and the legacy of ignored policy advice
25Jul By Bob AscahNo Comments
Budget, Energy, Fiscal History, Government Finances, Opinion/Research

Alberta’s continuing devotion to resource revenue and the legacy of ignored policy advice

Updated on 2 August 2023 Despite a record surplus reported for last year, the Alberta government only achieves surpluses by counting the royalties from the sale of non-renewable resources (non-renewable resource revenue- NRRR) like ordinary revenue. But does this practice- commenced in the 1940s- faithfully represent the fiscal position of the government? If the Government of Alberta adopted the private sector's approach to the sale of physical assets, Alberta's fiscal history would be decidedly different. Private sector accounting would establish the oil, gas, and bitumen resources as an asset on the provincial balance sheet. The accounting entry would represent the value of all the resources in the ground that would be produced in the current fiscal year and into the future. The value of...
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