At the Governance Committee for the Alaska Permanent Fund Board of Trustees on Monday afternoon, there was much talk about transparency and “building back the trust” with the public.

The committee members and their consultant team discussed the delicate balance the board of trustees has in talking to people who promote investment opportunities to the $80 billion sovereign wealth fund of Alaska, and how the trustees communicates those opportunities to the professional staff.

There was also discussion about the need for better crisis communications to deal with matters that could arise.

All of the discussion was aimed at resolving issues that put the Permanent Fund Corporation in an unflattering limelight over the past few weeks, after someone inside the professional staff leaked out emails to the Alaska Landmine website that showed how uncomfortable the chief investment officer was with trustee Ellie Rubenstein’s perceived heavy-handedness in pushing investments possibly related to her own financial interests.

Rubenstein is vice chair of the board of trustees and chairs the governance committee. She also has a father — David Rubenstein — who is famous for the world-famous private equity fund he started, Carlyle Group, which has in the past managed a small portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund’s investments and would probably appreciate more opportunity. She’s also on speed dial with the governor of Alaska. The leaked emails revealed she may have an interest in getting rid of the board Chairman Ethan Schutt.

Britt Harris IV, who was named acting CEO of the $56.7 billion Austin-based Texas Permanent School Fund Corp., is on the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.’s investment advisory group. He advised the board more than once that there needs to be a clear line of responsibility between the trustees and the the professional staff. He and other advisers reminded the board that although they may be approached by many people at conferences eager for the business of the Alaska Permanent Fund, their role ends after they make a referral to the professional staff. The fund is doing well, they said, and there’s not a lot of room to wedge in another investment adviser.

Britt acknowledged that when at conferences, trustees are expected to treat people they meet with courtesy and professionalism, but passing along the information to the staff should be where it ends.

The committee discussed setting up a common email address where they can send the information, so that other board members and staff could see it, adding to a sense of transparency.

The Funston Advisory Group, which advises Permanent and Sovereign Wealth Funds, had a list of recommendations that were in addition to some of the ideas the trustees and staff came up with:

• – Establish Board term limits

• – Establish an Enterprise Performance Risk Management Program

• – Formalize internal CIO Investment Committee structure, duties and reporting practices

• – Develop clear and expanded compliance monitoring and reporting responsibilities

• – Forrnalize due diligence processes and related compliance reporting

• – Spell out Board Standards Policy discipline options and procedure

• – Consolidate all governance bylaws, charters and policies into Manual

• – Provide secure laptops or tablets to trustees for APFC business Develop investment beliefs to further guide planning and policies

• – Revise the Audit Committee Charter to provide for: o Committee monitoring of compliance with audit report recommendations

• – Audits of investment and operations reports for accuracy and reliability

There were no votes taken during the meeting, which was attended by all members of the board of trustees, with the exception of Chairman Schutt. About 65 other people were dialed into the meeting, but no one from the public offered any comments during the public comment segment of the agenda.

I suppose learning how to hunt for your own food might be a good option in Alaska…

With the cost of living crisis, many people are doing their best to make their money go further.

That could mean cutting back on unnecessary luxuries or trading in their car for a cheaper version, maybe holding off on making that big tech purchase for a few months in hopes of a price going down.

But most people can at least agree, food is a necessity – we all have to eat after all.

But a post on social media has got many hoping they don’t have to move to Alaska any time soon.

Reddit user _Sockeye shared an image of what $109 dollars got them in groceries in Naknek, Alaska.

Many Reddit users were simply stunned at the cost of all the goods. (Reddit/_Sockeye)

Looking at the picture, they certainly didn’t go for anything extravagant, many have remarked this is what a food shop should look like if you are trying to cut costs.

In view are two cans of chicken broth, two cans of pinto beans, two cans of Chipotle Peppers, two cans of Minestrone, a bottle of avocado oil, restaurant style salsa, two packets of instant noodles, a 1lb bag of turkey breast, a dozen eggs and batch of Gatorade G Series Instant Powder Mix.

Many Reddit users were simply stunned at the cost of all the goods.

Users continued to list roughly how much the same amount of groceries would get them in their home state.(Getty Stock Image)

“The day I go to the store and have to pay that much for that little is the day I start looking for somewhere cheaper to live,” one user wrote.

“In Washington State thats $46.76 according to my store app,” commented another, while another remarked that in Aldi’s in Missouri that could be around $30 of food.

“Corporations have convinced a lot of people that their greed is actually the government’s fault, so they continue to raise prices astronomically while laughing as idiots blame Biden. All while they post record profits and get record bonuses,” another wrote.

“This is insanely high. I posted to someone else, but for $100 I got around 8 pounds of veggies and fruits, 15 pounds of meat, and other miscellaneous groceries,” commented a fourth person.

Other users continued to list roughly how much the same amount of groceries would get them in their home state. Some users insisted the original poster should consider growing his own food, learning to hunt or fish.

Which might not be a bad idea if spending over $100 only really gets you beans and sauce.

Topics: Food and Drink, Reddit, Social Media, Shopping, Money