Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund

rdf:langString Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund

rdf:langString Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund

rdf:langString Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

rdf:langString Fund

rdf:langString The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (HSTF) is a sovereign wealth fund established in 1976 by the Government of Alberta under then-Premier Peter Lougheed. The Heritage Savings Trust Fund was created with three objectives: "to save for the future, to strengthen or diversify the economy, and to improve the quality of life of Albertans." The operations of the Heritage Savings Trust Fund are subject to the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act and with the goal of providing "prudent stewardship of the savings from Alberta's non-renewable resources by providing the greatest financial returns on those savings for current and future generations of Albertans." Between 1976 and 1983 the Government of Alberta deposited a portion of oil revenue into the fund. The Heritage Savings Trust Fund used oil revenues to invest for the long term in such areas as health care, education and research and as a way of ensuring that the development of non-renewable resources would be of long-term benefit to Alberta. The strategy and goals of the fund have changed through successive provincial governments which moved away from direct investments in Alberta to a diversified approach, which now includes stocks, bonds, real estate and other ventures. The Heritage Savings Trust Fund has been a source of criticism for Alberta governments, as the value of the fund has failed to grow at the pace of provincial non-renewable natural resource revenues, which between 1980 and 2014 accounted totaled almost $190 billion, while the value of the Heritage Fund in 2014 was only $17.3 billion. The fund was established in 1976 accruing 30 per cent of provincial non-renewable resource revenues, which was subsequently lowered to 15 per cent in 1983 and eliminated in 1987. The Heritage Savings Trust Fund has not been immune to market forces through, and has gained and lost value according to general market trends including a $3-billion loss during the 2009 Great Recession resulting in the fund dropping to its 1985 value of $14 billion. The Alberta's Heritage Savings Trust Fund's fair market value was listed at $17.5 billion in 2014, and $16.3-billion as of 2020.

rdf:langString Chair of the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund

rdf:langString Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act

rdf:langString Minister of Finance