Permanent Fund sends $3.8 billion to the state as it grows to $91.9 billion

The Alaska Permanent Fund transferred $3.8 billion to the state's general fund this year, covering roughly two-thirds of Alaska's unrestricted general-fund revenue, according to the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation's fiscal year 2026 annual report. That money pays for both the Permanent Fund Dividend and state services.

The fund itself grew $6.8 billion, to an audited $91.9 billion as of June 30. It returned 12.42%, beating its 8.54% target but falling short of its 12.90% performance benchmark, as Alaska News reported. It also recorded a record $8.2 billion in statutory net income.

The transfer comes through the fund's Percent of Market Value draw, which equals 5% of the fund's average market value over five of the previous six fiscal years. No inflation-proofing appropriation was made for fiscal 2026, an amount the report estimates at $1.6 billion.

"67% of our state's general fund budget is now funded by the permanent fund," Jason Brune, chair of the corporation's board of trustees, told the Nome Common Council on Sept. 28. He said the Alaska State Legislature sets dividend amounts.

It started small. The fund traces to a $734,000 deposit of oil revenue on Feb. 28, 1977, following a 1976 constitutional amendment, and the corporation says it marks its 50th anniversary in 2026. Brune said it was created "to save money for a rainy day," funded by a quarter of the state's oil, gas and mining royalties and invested worldwide. For roughly its first 40 years, dividends came only from fund earnings, he said. A 2017 Alaska Supreme Court ruling and later legislative action made dividends subject to annual appropriation, despite a statutory formula for calculating them.

Trustees held their annual meeting in Nome on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, where they adopted an updated investment policy and reelected Brune as chair and Ethan Schutt as vice chair. Allen Waldrop told trustees that infrastructure returns fell over the past year as strong earlier power investments "rolled off the reporting period."