Heritage and Stabilisation Fund

A Board of Governors appointed by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is responsible for the fund's strategic asset allocation and oversight. The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago handles operational portfolio management for designated mandates. Board members include Central Bank Deputy Governor Dorian Noel and, as of October 2025, Suzette Taylor-Lee Chee. The fund operates at arm's length from day-to-day political spending via a parliamentary approval requirement for any withdrawal.

Withdrawals are permitted only when actual petroleum revenues fall below a budgeted threshold, as determined by a legislated formula. The amount is capped at a moving-average calculation of the revenue shortfall, and any transfer to the national budget must receive parliamentary approval. The design ensures the fund's corpus is only tapped during genuine commodity-revenue shocks, not discretionary fiscal expansion.

The fund maintains a multi-asset portfolio anchored by US Dollar fixed-income instruments and global public equities, with increasing exposure to alternatives including real estate, private credit, and hedge fund strategies. Developed-market allocations in North America and Europe dominate the geographic split. The mandate explicitly limits emerging-market and high-yield risk to preserve capital for intergenerational use.

Unlike sovereign funds in jurisdictions where the treasury can access assets with limited friction, the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund's withdrawal mechanism is tied to a statutory formula that requires both a verified petroleum-revenue shortfall and parliamentary approval. This dual-lock structure, combined with IFSWF membership and Santiago Principles compliance, imposes a higher governance bar than many comparable energy-exporting sovereign vehicles.

The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago executes a portion of the portfolio operationally, while the Board of Governors sets the strategic benchmark. The fund also deploys capital with external managers, particularly for alternative asset classes such as hedge funds, private credit, and real estate where in-house execution is not maintained. Specific external manager mandates are not publicly disclosed in detail, consistent with many sovereign wealth funds' reporting practices.