X-Message-Number: 31122
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:31:34 -0600
From: "Finance Department" <>
Subject: What Alcor and CI Aren't Telling Us

------=_Part_33716_28836939.1224120694897
Content-Disposition: inline

Looking at Message #31119 from Dr. Robert Newport, I have to be a tad amused
that he says "It would be nice to hear from Alcor" about its financial
contingency plans if any.  Dr. Newport is listed as being on Alcor's
Advisory Board.  And even he doesn't know.

For any cryonics organization, it seems to me there are two major financial
issues - one having to do with investments, and the other contingency plans
for operations in the event of a "financial collapse" whatever that may turn
out to be.

As to investments, it is my understanding that Alcor and in particular its
Patient Care Trust has been pretty heavily invested in instruments such as
common stocks.  I am also told that CI's general fund, somewhere in the
7-figure range, is substantially so invested.  From the highs of the past 52
weeks, the overall USA stock markets have now lost close to 50% of their
market value.

In 1929, they lost 90% of their market value before bottoming out, and it
took decades to recover that value.

I would think that the members of either organization would want to know the
extent to which such investments are still held, what losses if any were
sustained before getting out of such investments. and if such investments
are still held, are their organizations planning to risk the loss of 40%
more of the market value or are they going to be selling off?

As to contingency plans in the event of inability at some point to do
financial business, I would think the first priority would be ensuring a
supply of liquid nitrogen for the patients.  Perhaps prepaying for a 3 year
supply would be prudent.  I don't know what they would do regarding anything
else.  If transportation fails due to financial failure, members deanimating
might not get served any time soon.  Whatever they have contingency plans
for, ought to be communicated to their members.  Why do we have total
silence on this from both organizations?

FD

P.S.  Dr. Robert asks "Is this the appropriate forum for this discussion,
and if not, what is?"  I think the obvious answer is that it is the
appropriate forum for *us* to be discussing it, since this is the forum we
are on.  There are probably discussions going on in other, private, forums,
but that does not help us out much here.

------=_Part_33716_28836939.1224120694897

 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1

[ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] 

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=31122