New Mexico kicks off 2025 with $58 billion in assets

Fifteen years ago, the New Mexico State Investment Council was managing just over $14 billion. Come 2025, the sovereign wealth fund has quadrupled, and then some.

The SIC is currently overseeing about $58 billion for the state of New Mexico and its residents, working to ensure private dollar investments deliver benefits, like public school funding or tax savings.

The SIC had a net asset value of $58.2 billion as of Nov. 19, according to data provided for its most recent regular meeting. That includes $2.37 billion with investors.

A majority of the overall net assets are held within the Land Grant Permanent Fund, which is the state’s largest permanent fund primarily due to oil and gas royalties. The Land Grant Permanent Fund had $32.6 billion as of Oct. 31, according to SIC data.

That money goes to New Mexico’s beneficiaries, the largest of which is public schools, which get 88% of the Land Grant Permanent Fund revenue.

The SIC estimated it sent $1.83 billion to its beneficiaries in fiscal year 2025, which ended in June. That’s $198 million more in distributions than the prior fiscal year.

Holding the next highest amount of money is the Severance Tax Permanent Fund at $9.86 billion. The state Legislature created this fund in 1973 as a way to invest severance taxes not used that year for capital projects. The Severance Tax Permanent Fund saves New Mexicans money on taxes and government services, according to the SIC.

And, despite only having existed for four-and-a-half years, the Early Childhood Education and Care Fund has the third-highest amount of net assets, standing at $8.3 billion as of late October. Like the name implies, the fund channels money to the Early Childhood Education Department, which also launched in 2020.

Another big player in the state’s permanent fund pool is the Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund, which sometimes collects annual tobacco taxes. For the past 16 years, though, the Legislature has appropriated nearly all of the tobacco payments, according to the SIC, leaving minimal dollars to be funneled into the Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund.

The Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund held $2.2 billion, as of Oct. 31.

The SIC manages eight other funds, ranging from $25 million (the Workforce Development and Apprenticeship Trust Fund) to $949 million (the Higher Education Trust Fund).

Employing alternative investment strategies, the SIC describes its private-market asset classes as “ideal for long-term institutional investors like the SIC.” That includes investments in private equity, real estate, non-core fixed income like credit strategies and real return like infrastructure, energy or other income-producing “hard” assets, according to the SIC.

For example, the SIC made $1.745 billion in commitments from Aug. 27 to Oct. 29, according to agency data, including in both state and national private equity funds, real assets, private debt and real estate.