Formation and early history The
Progressive Conservative government under Premier Peter Lougheed swept into power after the
1971 election ending the 36-year
Social Credit government. The Progressive Conservatives promised change and began quickly with public consultations on energy policy. The previous Social Credit government limited royalties on oil and gas at 16.6 per cent, which was written into each mineral lease. The result of the consultation and government analysis concluded public ownership share of energy resources should be higher, oil and natural gas were priced below value, resource upgrading and employment in Alberta must be increased, and Albertans deserved greater investment opportunity for public-owned resources. The government of Alberta made efforts to increase export prices of oil and natural gas in 1972, which was accelerated due to the
1973 energy crisis, and legislated royalty increases into existing mineral lease contracts. Other major policy changes included expanding the mandate of the government-owned pipeline
Alberta Gas Trunk Line to include upgrading activities. Finally, the government created the
Alberta Energy Company with $150 million, half of which was provided by the Legislature and the other half came from Albertans who could purchase $10 shares. The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund was proposed in 1974 legislation, with the decision to move forward announced in February 1975, as part of the 1975-1976 budget tabled by the Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Peter Lougheed in the
17th Legislature. The fund would be established to hold $1.5 billion, and scarce details were provided by
Provincial Treasurer Gordon Miniely, noting that the fund would be for the betterment of current and future Albertans. The 17th Legislative Assembly was dissolved only days later and the
1975 Alberta general election was scheduled for March 26. Former Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister
Allan Warrack claims the decision to introduce the legislationwhile knowing the legislature would be dissolved before enactmentwas intentional to allow widespread public review, transparency, and accountability. The proposed Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund became a central issue during the election, and Premier Lougheed used the opportunity to outline the policy behind the fund. The fund would be used to diversify and strengthen the
Alberta economy, improve the capacity and quality of life for future Albertans, stimulate the economy and continue to accumulate
interest on the principal. Furthermore, Lougheed stated the funds would not be invested in a way as to interfere with private sector activity, or disrupt existing financial institutions, and primarily be invested inside Alberta. Lougheed in debates in the Legislature further refined the purpose of the fund, stating it was not to transform Alberta into an "industrial state", stating he did not want smoke-stacks, but instead the "best jobs" and "brain power". Lougheed and the Progressive Conservative campaign was successful, and he returned to power with a strong
majority government controlling 69 of 75 seats in the Legislature. The fund was created with the passage of
The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act (Bill 35) during the second session of the
18th Alberta Legislature, receiving
Royal Assent on May 19, 1976. The bill legislated the transfer of $1.5 billion () in assets from the Province's
General Revenue Fund and committed 30 per cent of the province's annual
non-renewable resource revenue into the fund. Non-renewable resource revenue included any revenue received by the Alberta government related to agreements or bonuses under the
Mines and Minerals Act, including
royalty or in lieu of royalty for bituminous sands leases. The Act also created the 15-person Legislature Committee to review the operations of the fund, but not manage any of the investments. The fund was divided into three investment divisions. The Capital Projects Division with up to 20 per cent of the fund's assets invested in projects with long-term economic or social benefits to Albertans. The Canada Investment Division with up to 15 per cent of the fund's assets made loans to other governments or government agencies in Canada. The Alberta Investment Division sought opportunities in Alberta where investments would strengthen and
diversify the economy. The fund was initially criticized for the absence of public consultation in the development of overarching legislation, Cabinet's control over 80 per cent of the fund's investments, leaving the Legislature with control over 20 per cent of the fund's assets. The Progressive Conservative government made concessions to give the Legislature power to vote on deposits made into the fund each year, but Premier Lougheed called giving the Legislature additional control over investments impractical, naïve and ridiculous. Progressive Conservative Government
House Leader Lou Hyndman rationalized the absence of Legislature control over investments noting matters concerning investment are traditionally the prerogative of the government.
1980s The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund would go through several changes in the early 1980s under Premier Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservative government. The provincial government created two new investment divisions, the Commercial Investment Division to hold a portfolio of securities, and the Energy Investment Division to make investments in energy capacity across Canada, which was closed shortly afterward owing to the National Energy Program. Eventually, Provincial Treasurer Lou Hyndman announced the province would indefinitely suspend the Canada Investment Division and the possibility of future inter-provincial loans issued by the Heritage Trust Fund. Funds would instead be used on investments in Alberta. The 1982-83 fiscal year marked the first occasion when income generated in the fund was utilized for general government purposes with the transfer of $866 million to Alberta's General Revenue Fund while retaining $1,986 million. Lougheed announced to Albertans that the "
rainy day" had arrived and the government intended to put a billion-dollar umbrella over mortgage holders, small businesses, and farmers. In the announcement to address the
recession, Lougheed stressed the diversion of funds from the Heritage Trust Fund would only be temporary, and the concept of the fund would remain intact. The Legislature passed the
Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Amendment Act, 1983 (Bill 18) which repealed the diversion of 30 per cent of non-renewable resource revenue and provided for the transfer in place for a rate of 15 per cent. The following year, the Fund transferred $1,469 million to general revenue and retained $720 million. Criticism mounted on Peter Lougheed and the Progressive Conservative government from the opposition, with
Western Canada Concept leader
Gordon Kesler calling the decision "disastrous" and an example of the government's poor financial planning, while
Liberal leader
Nicholas Taylor called attention to bloated government programs and the optics of a balanced budget before a snap election. Only a month after the announcement the
19th Alberta Legislature was
dissolved and an
election was called for November 2, 1982. The
Don Getty-led Progressive Conservative government facing deteriorating economic conditions and low oil prices tabled a 1987-88 budget that terminated the 15 per cent non-renewable natural resource deposits into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund and withdrew all interest income from the fund into general revenues. The decision to suspend non-renewable natural resource deposits provided an estimated additional $216 million to the treasury, and an additional $1.4 billion in investment income transfers. The decision in effect capped the fund at $12.7 billion. The
Auditor General raised similar concerns as the fund claimed $2.8 billion on "deemed assets" which could not be liquidated or in any way recovered by the province.
1990s The Don Getty government faced continued criticism over the handling of the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, particularly the dwindling principal which had seen four consecutive years of reduction by 1991. The funds continued reductions were in part a result of transfers of interest to general revenue and lower earnings from non-interest-bearing investments, in particular the Lloydminster Bi-Provincial Upgrader for heavy oil with
Husky Oil and the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries pulp mill. The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund underwent several changes with
Ralph Klein's successful leadership campaign for the Progressive Conservative party and subsequent success in the
1993 Alberta general election. Klein was a staunch believer that private enterprise should dictate market activity and government "should not be in the business of business". Alberta sold its 36 per cent stake in the Alberta Energy Company Ltd. (which eventually became
Ovintiv) for $476 million in May 1993, with $183 million returned to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund and the remaining $273 million applied to the provincial debt. Calls to amend the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund legislation to make the fund "inflation-proof" dated back to the 1990s as successive governments withdrew large portions of the Fund's investment interest. The
Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act (Bill 32) was introduced by the Progressive Conservative government during the fourth session of the
23rd Alberta Legislature and received Royal Assent on May 23, 1996. The Act reorganized the fund, focusing on a period of temporary short-term investments for the benefit of the provincial treasury while transitioning the Fund to long-term investments by 2005. This change was facilitated through a separate "Transition Portfolio" and "Endowment Portfolio", with $10.6 billion of the Fund's $11.8 billion assets placed in the Transition Portfolio. The Transition Portfolio invested primarily in interest-bearing securities for a steady stream of income, while the Endowment Portfolio was split between fixed-income securities and equities both between 35 and 65 per cent of the fund.
2000s The Alberta economy's recovery from the
early 1990s recession was jumpstarted by the
2000s energy crisis, which saw the inflation-adjusted price of a
barrel of
crude oil on
NYMEX rise above US$30 in 2003, reached US$60 by 11 August 2005, and peaked at US$147.30 in July 2008. Provincial government revenues from oil and gas royalties grew leading Premier Klein to declare the province "debt free" in July 2004; this included the province having set aside enough money to make payments on outstanding locked-in debts until 2013 when the final payment was made. The growing provincial treasury led to three years of deposits in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund in 2005-06 ($1.75 billion), 2006-07 ($1.25 billion), and 2007-08 ($918 million); the first deposits to the Fund in 19 years. In 2008, the Government of Alberta created the
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), a
Crown corporation owned by the provincial government as the asset management firm for the province of Alberta. AIMCo transferred control of the province's various financial assets, which had previously been managed by a division of the Alberta Ministry of Finance. AIMCo's mandate included managing the Heritage Savings Trust Fund from that point onward. Public criticism reignited in 2009 when it was announced the Heritage Savings Trust Fund had lost $3 billion during the
Great Recession, reducing the fund's value to $14 billion. Peter Lougheedwhose government created the fund in 1976spoke critically of the fund's management and failure to diversify the Alberta economy, noting the fund was valued at $14 billion in 1985 when he retired from provincial politics. Despite the recommendations of the report, the Government did not create the Future Fund. Under Premier
Alison Redford and Finance Minister
Doug Horner, the
28th Legislature passed the
Fiscal Management Act requiring the Government of Alberta to deposit to the Trust Fund five per cent of the first $10 billion of non-renewable resource revenue, 25 per cent of the next $5 billion and 50 per cent of all non-renewable resource revenue in excess of $15 billion. Based on a look back at non-renewable resource revenue between 2000 and 2013, on average, the proposal would have resulted in a deposit of $500 million in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund over that period.
2020s In October 2020, the Government of Alberta announced a review of the investment policy for the Heritage Savings Trust Fund. The Trust Fund faced significant losses from a
volatility-based investment strategy during the
COVID-19 recession. The volatility-based strategy resulted in direct losses of $411 million, which were compounded by other global market losses from the recession, resulting in a total loss in book value of approximately 10 per cent, with a September 2020 month-end value of $17.2 billion. As of year-end 2021, the market value of the Trust Fund had risen to $18.9 billion. ==Investments==