By VERNON KERR

Constitutional Amendment 5 is a sleeper. It deals with investment of the Land Grant Permanent Fund assets.

Currently Investments are to be made on each proposed investment under the Prudent Man Rule which states that the investment is to be considered as one that a prudent man would make for his own investment being careful to avoid unreasonable risk, with care.

The amendment would change that to assign the Uniform Prudent Investor Act as the rule by which assets are to be handled. This is an Act that was passed by the legislature and that could be altered at any time by a legislature. The UPIA would allow investments to be made using portfolio composition or balancing to be used as criteria to invest Permanent Fund assets. The UPIA is currently used with other funds than the Land Grant Permanent Fund and as one can see under a former executive those funds were not maintained well off. The Tobacco Permanent and the Severance Tax Permanent Funds have suffered.

Constitutional Amendment 5 would potentially have an adverse effect on the state’s largest and most sound permanent fund.  
As a former SIC member I will vote against CA #5.