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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION    1391

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1953 a considerable number of changes in the investment portfolio of the Institution were made. The turnover from sales and purchases and the collection and reinvestment of maturing obligations amounted to more than $6,000,000. The net profit accruing to the Institution resulting from these transactions amounted to $292,847.64.

The amount of capital available from profits in the Freer Fund which have been invested amounted to $198,907.25. The Consolidated Fund was increased $224,429.42 of which amount $93,940.39 was from the reinvestment of profits on sales and the remainder from transfers from the Walcott Fund, new bequests and investment of accumulated income.

During the fiscal year an additional $100,000 of the Institution's cash balance was invested in U.S. Treasury obligations making a total of $700,000 of such temporary investments of cash.

The sales of Smithsonian Scientific Series having been discontinued, no profits from this publication were received during 1953.

The Institution received from the Ontario Apartment House Company payment on the 105 shares of stock held in the Younger Fund at $110 per share amounting to $11,550. This is a gain of $2,100 or $20 per share over the book carrying figure when these shares were received. On the 656 shares on Ontario Apartment House Company stock held in the Walcott Fund, a similar payment of $110 per share was made, amounting to $72,160. This is a gain of $32,800 over the book carrying figure at the time of the receipt of these shares. Advices have been obtained that there will be further liquidating dividends paid which may amount to approximately $50 per share more. Thus, it will be seen that holding these securities has been an advantageous course for the Institution.

I think it may be of interest to the Board of Regents also to know that we owned 423 shares of the Iowa Apartment House in the Walcott Fund and 243 shares in the Younger Fund. In the Walcott Fund the original book carrying figure was $70, in the Younger Fund $100 per share. This apartment house was sold and we received the first liquidating dividend in July 1951, a further liquidating dividend in April 1952, and the final liquidating dividend in September 1952, in both funds. In the Walcott Fund the total amount received was $77,903.91, against the original book value of $29,610, so that we had a gain of $48,293.91 in that fund. In the Younger Fund the total liquidating dividends received were $44,753.31 as against the original book value of $24,300, representing a gain of $20,453.31 over the original book value. While these Iowa Apartment House transactions did not take place in the year 1953 they were the same type of old apartment house securities as the stock in the Ontario Apartment House. Our decision, after careful examination and appraisal, to continue to hold these stocks has proved to be a wise one, since the liquidating distributions have been very substantially higher than the low price that was being offered by those who had the majority stock interests in these apartments. 

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