The employees of Field Operations work directly with individual and Tribal trust beneficiaries across Indian country. The Deputy Special Trustee and five Regional Trust Directors provide technical assistance on trust matters to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), BTFA employees, and other agencies. The directors supervise Fiduciary Trust Officers (FTOs), who are responsible for providing professional beneficiary services in cooperation with the BIA at field agencies and regional offices.
FTOs, Trust Account Administrators, Technicians, Accounting Technicians and Accounts Maintenance Techs work together to provide beneficiaries with accurate and timely access to account information and trust services. FTOs also coordinate the management of trust assets with BIA in their geographic areas and provide guidance to support staff in the management of accounts.
Information Regarding Social Security Benefits
According to 25 USC <>§1408 – Interests of individual Indians in trust or restricted lands shall not be considered a resource, and up to $2000.00 per year of income received by individual Indians that is derived from such interests shall not be considered income, in determining eligibility for assistance under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C.A. § 301 et seq.] or any other Federal or federally assisted program. (Pub.L. 93-134, § 8, as added Pub.L. 97-458, § 4, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2514, and amended Pub.L. 103-66, Title XIII, § 13736 (a), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 663.)
The Trust Beneficiary Call Center (TBCC) is a nationwide, toll free call center that enables beneficiaries to conveniently access information regarding their trust assets (i.e., ownership, lease activity), check the status of a trust service, or request a disbursement from, or an update to, their Individual Indian Monies (IIM) Account. The TBCC also responds to written beneficiary requests received in the mail, as well as beneficiaries who come in to the BTFA offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico. FTOs and the TBCC are key components of Field Operations' ability to provide efficient delivery of services to trust beneficiaries.
The Office of Trust Funds Investments (OTFI) meets the investment needs of Indian beneficiaries through prudent management of Trust financial assets. OTFI is responsible for investment of approximately $5.3 billion in Trust assets. Assets are managed in-house by experienced portfolio managers who are skilled investment professionals.
OTFI provides investment advice and support to Field Operations leadership regarding tribal investment issues. It conducts tribal visits and portfolio reviews as needed as part of BTFA’s ongoing relationship with the tribes. It also provides advice and resources to BTFA on investment related issues.
OTFI manages approximately 3,500 separate tribal investment portfolios accounts representing about 250 Tribal relationships. The Office also invests the Individual Indian Monies Fund (IIM), which has more than 404,000 account holders. As of March 2018, tribal assets had a market value of approximately $4.1 million value. The IIM Fund had a current market value of approximately $869 million.
For more information, contact:
Pamela Jurgensen
Director, Trust Funds Investments
505-816-1102