Newly elected Treasurer Nick Mansour wants to change endowment investments, ESA program

Treasurer-elect Nick Mansour laid out what he plans to do once in office after defeating Republican challenger Elijah Norton in the midterm general election.

The Associated Press projected Mansour would win the race on Thursday afternoon as statewide results showed him ahead 53.6% to 46.3%, a difference of 160,710 votes.

As treasurer, Mansour will manage Arizona’s banking and investments, protect billions of dollars in public funds and oversee payments to state agencies. He will also invest money for local governments and manage the Permanent Land Endowment, which helps fund public schools and other beneficiaries.

In fact, how the endowment fund is invested was one of the two changes Mansour highlighted he would like to make when he takes office.

“We invest in bonds and public stock index funds today. I want to keep us investing in those two things, but just change the allocation between the two,” Mansour told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Evening News on Thursday. “And the reason that’s the right move is we’re never intending to sell this money. We’re intending to hold these investments forever. We have a very, very long-term horizon and we should be investing it appropriately for that.”

He noted the way to protect against downturns in the market is by being diversified and having a certain amount in bonds to get through those periods.

Mansour also wants to make changes to the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program. He emphasized wanting to bring transparency to where the program’s money is going in order to eliminate waste.

“The treasurer can personally do three things for sure. One is bring greater transparency to it. So, we can release information that says where that money’s going and still safeguard student privacy rights,” he explained. “Two, we can review where … the funds are going, what the receipts have been submitted for. And three, we can go back to the superintendent and work with the superintendent.”

The treasurer-elect believes he and newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Teresa Leyba Ruiz will work well together as she wants to eliminate waste in the program as well.

Mansour explained that for changes in the endowment investments and the ESA program to occur, the Legislature and governor need to agree to them.

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