Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 10, 1 October 1998 — TRUSTEE MESSAGES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TRUSTEE MESSAGES

Fiscal responsibility IN DECEMBER, 1997, OHA's portfolio was worth $276, 144,000. As of March 31, 1998, OHA's portfolio grew to $299,917,000 in the first quarter of the year, a growth of $23,773,000 as reported by our money monitor, Martha Brown of Merrill Lynch, for the first quarter of this year. On the surface, we could say that our portfolio is doing great. However, considering that the stock market was in a bullish trend, could we have done better? Perhaps. Since the end of March, our money monitor has failed to produce the quarterly reports that show how well our portfolio and money managers, and the overall portfolio, are performing compared to the market. In her March 31 report, Martha Brown shows that in the previous quarter OHA's portfolio performed at 7.9 percent, equal to the stock market. This is now late September and we are coming out of our third quarter and we still haven't been informed on

how well we have done over the last two quarters. As trustees, it is our fiscal responsibility to make sure our decisions keep our trust growing. Given we have not received reports for the last two quarters, it is difficult to discern what the portfolio mig"ht be worth at this time. The question our beneficiaries should be asking the Chair Trustee Colette Machado of our Committee of Budget and Finance, is why she has not held the money moni-

tors feet to the fire for not reporting. Further, the chair of this committee has failed to keep Board members apprised of our financial status in the markets. While, from time to time, trustees receive reports from individual money managers on the

stocks bought and traded, |this kind of individual reporting cannot be considered the same as a report from the money monitor who looks at the overall 1 1 perforinance of all man 1 1 agers as compared to the 1 I market. Last year the Governor % f announced that he would be withholding OHA's 20 percent share of airport revenues fbr the next two | years, totaling approxiJ mately $1 8 million due to ■ thetrust. This withholding H of payment has caused

OHA to dip into trust funds to make up shortfalls in our budget in order to eonhnue funding OHA's programs and projects. The financial crisis that the state finds itself in, at this point in time, should not affect our Hawaiian beneficiaries. In these critical times it is imperative that we

have board members who fully understand what it means to manage a public trust. As we move into the 21st century, the need for qualified and exj)erienced people on the OHA board becomes more critical. When we go to the polls this November, let us look carefully at the candidates and choose well those who bring to OHA talents and expertise to make OEIA an entity all Hawaiians ean be proud of. Candidates who talk about lōkahi and pono, but have no plans for our future, must be taken with a grain of salt. I think we all have had enough talk. We must now look to leaders who ean steer our eanoe, whether the waves be ealm or turbulent. On a separate note, I would like to acknowledge the great contribution that Trustee Gladys Brandt has made to OHA. She has been a real blessing to the Board of Trustees. Her experience, knowledge and maturity has been a stabilizing force whieh will be sorely missed. It has been a real pleasure working with her. Thank you Aunty Gladys, and God bless. ■

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