# Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund (PWMTF)

Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund (PWMTF) is a Sovereign Wealth Fund based in Cheyenne, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Sovereign Wealth Fund
- **Headquarters:** Cheyenne, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Cheyenne, WY, United States
- **Founded:** 1974
- **Assets under management:** $8B - $12B (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** treasurer.wyo.gov

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund, established by constitutional amendment in 1974, channels severance taxes and federal mineral royalties into a permanent endowment for the state. The State Treasurer, currently Curtis Meier, sits as chair of the Investment Funds Committee and holds the ultimate fiduciary duty. The fund's intergenerational mandate mirrors Norway's global fund but stays closer to home — its corpus cannot be invaded, and only a constitutionally limited spending policy dividend reaches the legislature each year. The fund spreads across a multi-asset class strategy built for income and inflation protection. Core equity and fixed-income exposures anchor the portfolio, while substantial allocations target private markets: real estate via separate accounts with Clarion Partners, UBS Realty, and the Morgan Stanley Prime Property Fund domestically, plus SC Capital's Asia-Pacific portfolio. A niche Wyoming Strategic Gold and Silver Reserve adds direct precious metals custody. The state's 2023 launch of the Wyoming Stable Token — a fiat-collateralized digital asset issued under a special-purpose depository institution charter — extends the fund's innovation perimeter, though the PWMTF's precise role remains limited to enabling legislation and oversight (per the firm's official communications). The Treasury manages the fund with a lean internal team. Patrick Fleming, the prior CIO, retired in June 2025 after a long tenure steering asset allocation. Karl Cheng assumed the CIO role in February 2026, inheriting a portfolio with growing real assets exposure and experimental digital-infrastructure adjacency. The fund is a member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds and adheres to the Santiago Principles on governance and transparency. The PWMTF's constitutionally fixed corpus distinguishes it from most US state funds, which legislatures can raid during downturns. This rigid defense, paired with Wyoming's ongoing experiment in state-chartered digital asset custody, makes the fund an unusual hybrid: an old-economy resource pool governed by a new-economy regulatory apparatus. The Treasurer's dual role — both elected official and de facto CIO — adds a political layer rarely found outside the Middle Eastern sovereign fund world.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Infrastructure
- Private Credit
- Hedge Funds

## People

- Curtis E. Meier, Jr. — Wyoming State Treasurer and Chair of the Investment Funds Committee
- Karl Cheng — Chief Investment Officer
- Patrick Fleming — Former Chief Investment Officer (retired June 2025)

## Questions

### Who holds investment authority over the PWMTF?

The Wyoming State Treasurer chairs the Investment Funds Committee and serves as the fund's fiduciary, supported by a Chief Investment Officer. The current Treasurer is Curtis Meier, and Karl Cheng was appointed CIO effective February 2026. Patrick Fleming, the prior CIO, retired in June 2025 after a long tenure guiding the fund's asset allocation.

### How does the PWMTF's structure differ from Alaska's Permanent Fund?

Alaska's Permanent Fund distributes an annual dividend directly to residents. Wyoming's constitution locks the PWMTF corpus permanently — only an inflation-adjusted spending policy amount flows annually to the state's general fund. This makes Wyoming's structure closer to a true endowment than a citizen-dividend model.

### Does the PWMTF participate in Wyoming's stable token initiative?

Wyoming launched the Wyoming Stable Token in 2023, a fiat-collateralized digital asset issued through a state-chartered special-purpose depository institution. The PWMTF's role has been limited to enabling legislation and oversight rather than direct investment, but the initiative signals the state's broader appetite for tokenized custody structures adjacent to the fund's gold and silver reserve.

### What real estate managers does the PWMTF currently use?

The fund maintains separate account relationships with Clarion Partners and UBS Realty on domestic commercial properties, plus a position in the Morgan Stanley Prime Property Fund. In Asia-Pacific, it invests through SC Capital's portfolio. These are direct real estate allocations, not fund-of-funds.

### What is the Wyoming Strategic Gold and Silver Reserve?

It is a direct precious metals allocation held within the PWMTF's broader portfolio, representing physical custody of gold and silver. The reserve functions as an inflation hedge and a hard-asset diversifier unique among US state-level sovereign funds. It sits alongside the fund's more conventional equity, fixed-income, and real estate holdings.

### Can the Wyoming legislature tap the PWMTF corpus during a budget shortfall?

No. The constitutional amendment that created the fund in 1974 protects the corpus from legislative raids. Only a spending policy distribution — calculated to preserve inflation-adjusted value — moves to the general fund. This distinguishes the PWMTF from many other US state resource funds where legislatures retain access.

## Related profiles

- [Permanent Capital Management](https://altss.com/profile/permanent-capital-management)
- [Persepolis Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/persepolis-foundation)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/permanent-wyoming-mineral-trust-fund-pwmtf

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