All governments use safe, secure and flexible investment instruments to manage their short-term cash surpluses. By pooling their resources, local and regional governments benefit from the same high returns, low commission rates and flexibility that senior governments enjoy.

In order to provide First Nations with the same cash surplus management services that other governments in Canada have access to, the FNFA entered into an agreement with the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia to allow all Aboriginal governments and their public bodies to participate in their $2.2 billion plus investment funds. These funds are invested in low-risk, mainstream instruments (investment policy and restrictions are set out by legislation) and managed by independent, third party professional money managers (currently Phillips, Hager & North). CIBC Mellon acts as the custodian of the investments.

• Since 1995, First Nations across Canada have been investing profitably through the FNFA and benefit from:
• Competitive returns that consistently beat mainstream commercial investment benchmarks
• Free redemption, subscriptions and transfers across funds
• Flexible, unlimited, penalty free, quick access to funds (24 hours for money market funds, three to four days for longer term funds)
• No minimum balance; deposit or redeem amounts in $1,000 increments
• Simple and quick bank account type transactions by fax or phone
• Multiple accounts, detailed monthly reporting.