The Central Holding Authority (CHA) is the 'parent body' within the Department of Treasury and Finance that represents the Government's interest in Government controlled entities.
The CHA records on behalf of the Territory Government:
- assets and liabilities controlled by the Government and managed by agencies on behalf of the Government;
- revenue collected by the CHA and regarded as Territory revenue. The main types being taxation, untied grants (GST revenue) and fines; and
- expenses where the main expense is the payment of appropriation to agencies. Other significant expenses are interest on Territory borrowings, interest on cash balances of government business divisions and the government owned corporation, and the centrally managed employee costs of superannuation and long service leave.
Investment Portfolio
The Northern Territory Government's investment portfolio is formed by pooling the surplus cash balances of the Government's bank accounts and investing in a variety of secure short, medium and long term debt securities issued in the Australian financial markets.
The broad objectives of the Corporation in managing the Northern Territory of Australia's investment portfolio are:
- To ensure sufficient liquidity is maintained in the Government's cash balances to meet all financial obligations as they fall due; and
- To obtain a return on the Government's cash balances in line with the benchmark while adhering to the investment guidelines approved by the Treasurer
The investment portfolio is composed of a range of secure investments of which a significant proportion are in short term instruments including 11am cash, bank accepted bills, promissory notes and negotiable certificates of deposit. A core amount of the investment portfolio is available for investment in longer term instruments such as floating rate notes and fixed interest securities.
As at 30 June 2012, the investment portfolio totalled approximately $655 million.
Medium Term Investment Fund (MTIF)
The Medium Term Investment Fund (MTIF) is a segregated pool of investments held with the Central Holding Authority (CHA) and commenced on 27 November 2007 with an initial investment of $50 million. The MTIF primarily represents surplus funds that have accumulated and not yet been expended by Territory Government agencies.
The fund is a tailored solution provided by MLC Investment Limited and has a relatively conservative investment style with approximately 15% allocated to growth assets in order to achieve its stated objective of producing a superior return over the medium term of 2-3 years.
The Corporation is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the performance of the fund and managing the relationship with the investment manager.
The investment performance of the fund is benchmarked against the UBS Warburg Australian Bank Bill Index.
As at 30 June 2012, the market valuation of the MTIF totalled $61.9 million.
Conditions of Service Reserve (COSR)
The Conditions of Service Reserve (COSR) is a segregated pool of investments held within the Central Holding Authority (CHA).
The funds are held at the discretion of the Treasurer and are intended for purposes such as meeting the Northern Territory Government's unfunded superannuation liabilities. The funds are managed by three fund managers - AMP Capital Investors Limited, Colonial First State Investments Limited and MLC Implemented Consulting.
The Corporation is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the performance of the fund and managing the relationship with the fund managers.
The investment performance of the fund is benchmarked against performance results for the 'growth' product category as published in the monthly InTech Investor Choice Performance Survey. This is consistent with the asset allocation mix applied to COSR.
As at 30 June 2012, the market valuations of the COSR fund totalled $434.8 million.