Imbert: Listing HSF-funded entities ‘impractical’

Finance Minister Colm Imbert has said it would be “impractical” to provide a list of entities funded by the Heritage Stabilisation Fund (HSF) for 2015-2023.

He was responding to questions from the Opposition in Parliament on Wednesday.

Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee, on behalf of Oropouche West MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, asked Imbert to provide this list.

The Finance Minister said the “strategic asset allocation,” together with the operational and investment guidelines, defines the investment parameters within which management of the HSF is done.

In 2008, the World Bank helped the board design the strategic asset allocation and the operational and investment guidelines for the HSF, which remained largely unchanged during the period 2015-2023. The strategic asset allocation determines the fund’s allocation while the benchmarks determine the fund’s holdings in securities in a particular asset class and investment sector. The four investment mandates are as follows:

-US short duration fixed income is 25 per cent with a benchmark of ICE Bank of America US Treasuries one-five year index.

-US core domestic fixed income is 40 per cent, with a benchmark of Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond index.

-US core domestic equity is 17.5 per cent, with a benchmark of Russell 3000 ex Energy Index.

-Non US core international equity is 17.5 per cent, with a benchmark of the MSCI EAFE ex Energy index.

Imbert added that on an average 82.5 per cent of the fund’s investment is in US-dollar-denominated assets. The four investment mandates are managed by external managers, guided by the HSF Board’s approved investment framework and performance benchmarks.

When asked if the rise in interest rates imposed by the US Federal Bank is negatively or positively affecting the HSF, Imbert said the HSF is doing “quite well." He said when last he checked, it was in the region of US$5.4 billion.