By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System is regaining value after a $2 billion dip.

The system’s investment adviser informed its board today that overall investments rose 5.6 percent in July, bringing system value to $9.2 billion, up from $8.805 billion at the end of the last fiscal year.

The news comes a week after board members were told the system’s investments fell by more than $2 billion last fiscal year.

“Keep the positive numbers coming,” said ATRS Chairman Richard Abernathy.
P.J. Kelly of investment adviser Ennis Knupp told the board July’s 5.6 percent return was one-half of a percentage point higher than expected.

“The pain that you went through last year, you’re being rewarded for it this year,” Kelly said.

The system’s investments were valued at $11.509 billion at the end of the 2007-2008 fiscal year and dropped dramatically last fall because of the drop in the stock market and the national recession.

Kelly said the current $9.2 billion value is “quite a bit better than where we were earlier this year.”

Also today, ATRS bid $11.3 million on 10,000 acres of timberland in Calhoun County.

The timberland, owned by Edwin Anthony Lumber Co. LP, is located between Hampton and Camden and is not only a good investment but puts the system closer to reaching a Legislature-requested 5 percent of its assets in Arkansas-related investments, Executive Director George Hopkins said.

The investment is projected to generate about a 9 percent return for the system over a 10-year period, Hopkins told the board.

The proposal, which was unanimously approved, allows for some negotiations but sets a maximum of $13.7 million for the amount of money ATRS can pay for the property.

“Overall this is a very fertile, high-quality South Arkansas timberland,” Hopkins said, adding it is a good time to invest because timber prices are low.
The property is close to “major timber markets,” including Camden, El Dorado, Crossett and Pine Bluff, and the timber could be sold for lumber or fiber, Hopkins said.

System officials should know by next week if ATRS is a finalist for the bid, he said.

The bid on timberland is not the first for ATRS. The system failed in a $33 million bid last year on 18,000 acres in South-Central Arkansas.