Bering Straits shareholders will get $13.50 a share, its highest regular payout

Bering Straits Native Corporation will pay shareholders $13.50 per share this fall — what it calls its highest regular trust distribution — with an extra $1,600 for original shareholders 65 and older. The corporation reports more than 8,200 shareholders.

The payment, due by Nov. 15, comes on top of a special $8.75-per-share distribution paid earlier this year, and continues a steady climb: the regular payout has risen from $11 a share in 2023 to $13.50 now, with the elder distribution growing alongside it.

The distributions go to enrolled shareholders only. People approved in this year's enrollment won't receive their shares until early 2027 and aren't eligible for this round, and descendants who hold no shares are trust beneficiaries but do not currently receive trust dividends, BSNC says.

Shareholders created the Beringia Settlement Trust in 2018. BSNC funds it under a 2017 federal tax law that lets Alaska Native corporations move money into such trusts before taxes, which is what allows the distributions to be paid tax-free. The board also added $7.5 million to a permanent fund, now about $95 million, that the corporation says will help sustain distributions as more shareholders enroll.