Stewart Horejsi: trust are like an act of love.

• Author: Stomierowski, Peg
• Position: VIEW FROM THE TOP - Alaska Trust Co. - Interview

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Stewart Horejsi had invested for years in Alaska before he and his family enterprise purchased Alaska Trust Co. early last year. Horejsi, of Arizona, is in his 70s.

After a sabattical from the family welding-supply business to study finance and economics in graduate school, Horejsi (pronounced Horish), began investing his profits in Warren Buffet's company, Berkshire Hathaway, in the 1980s. Rather than spending to expand a business in which margins were shrinking, he sold the family business in 1999 and counts himself as a major shareholder in the company Buffet heads. His interest in protecting his personal wealth, as well as that of family trusts, led him to Alaska.

The Horejsi Charitable Foundation supports education and other causes.

ABM: What drove your interest in acquiring Alaska Trust?

Horejsi: Our experts checked out every venue in the United States and offshore. The advantages of Alaska's laws were so great, we moved our trusts there from Bermuda and South Dakota. We felt the offshore options could create an appearance of illegality and we could accomplish everything in Alaska that we could accomplish legally offshore. Alaska also uses the same language and culture, and we achieve the comfort of knowing our trustee is regulated by Alaska law.

ABM: Describe how Alaska's trust and tax laws are "liberating."

Horejsi: They liberate us from State income taxes on our investment income, from both State and federal estate taxes, forever, and from being victimized by lawsuits. Alaska Trust Co. liberates us from sub-par investment results, risking life savings in some unknown, unregulated offshore jurisdiction, and from the negatives of South Dakota tax laws, so that wealth can compound inside the trust estate tax and gift tax tax-free. Some states have copied some of Alaska's favorable laws, but no state has all the advantages of Alaska, and Alaska has all of the advantages of all of the other states.

ABM: How does the company compete with offshore interests in regard to creditor and other protections?

Horejsi: Alaska allows self-settled masts; this means someone can not only create a trust for his family and still remain a beneficiary, but also get the asset protection of a completed mast. Trusts can be viewed as an act of love--the self-settled trust really provides the same outcome as love. Like love, you can give it away, but still have it.

ABM. What's the view from the top ... what new challenges are ahead?

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