Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 3, 1 Malaki 2004 — OHA Investment Portfolio posts big gains in 2003 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Investment Portfolio posts big gains in 2003

The OHA Investment Portfolio finished off 2003 with a bang as both of OHA's Investment Managers, Frank Russell Company and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, posted impressive results for the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Asset Management reported an 8.6% return on the portfolio, for a dollar value increase of approximately $11.9 million for the quarter and a total market value of $160.5 million for their portion of the OHA Investment Portfolio in

the fourth quarter of 2003. Similarly, Frank Russell reported an 8.18% increase, whieh translates to approximately $12.1 million for the quarter, to bring the total market value of their portion of the portfolio to $161.2 million. Overall, the OHA investment portfolio is now valued at over $320 million, an increase in excess of $60 million from a year ago, due in large part to the efforts of both of our investment managers and to the manager of managers system that was effectuated a year ago. The old

system of investment management at OHA was inefficient and not responsive to the highly dynamic nature of financial markets. The current system allows our investment managers to take action and be responsive to the marketplace and makes them accountable to the OHA Board of Trustees for their performance. So what ean we expect in 2004? Though we can't continue to expect 26-28 percent returns in our investments over a 9 month period as we had this past year, our investment

managers are predicting that the eeonomie recovery will continue, and both domestic and international equity markets will continue to do well. I believe that now is the time for OHA to reinvest our portfolio earnings back into our Hawaiian communities while our portfolio is healthy and growing. The need for educational opportunities, preservation of language and culture, housing, health and human services is large, and we should address them now while the eeonomie climate is favorable. ■

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Oz Stender Trustee, At-large