Skelton Cline Urges BVI Sovereign Fund
Talk show host Claude Skelton Cline is calling on the British Virgin Islands to create a sovereign wealth fund to convert current revenues into long-term assets for future generations. He proposes channeling income from land, marine resources, foreign investments and contributions from major businesses into a professionally managed fund to support education, infrastructure and long-term fiscal stability.
Claude Skelton Cline has urged the British Virgin Islands to establish a sovereign wealth fund as a vehicle to turn current revenues into assets that will benefit future generations. A sovereign wealth fund is a government-owned pool of capital invested in diversified assets for long-term returns.
Skelton Cline pointed to international examples where such funds have supported public services and infrastructure long after the original revenues were earned, arguing the BVI must stop focusing only on short-term needs. “We ain't going nowhere unless we own our own stuff,” the Honestly Speaking host said. “Where we have to engage foreign direct investment, we want to own a piece of it.
Where they have to put in a fund, where that portfolio will be diversified for the building up of our citizenship into the future. [A fund] that will send our children to school, fund education, build colleges and keep our infrastructure intact.” Skelton Cline suggested multiple revenue streams to capitalise a fund: a share of proceeds from land-based and marine resources, structured arrangements with foreign investors to take territorial equity, and mandated contributions from major financial services companies and other large businesses operating in the territory.
He also proposed using commercial fishing contracts that allow exports while requiring the operator to place a portion of profits into the fund. He referenced a US programme introduced under former President Donald Trump that creates investment accounts for children, saying the BVI could explore a similar mechanism so that citizens begin building wealth from birth: “If you don't own your stuff, you ain't in nothing,” he said.
Advocates argue a sovereign fund could help break what Skelton Cline called a “debt spiral” by creating independent revenue streams to finance education, infrastructure and disaster resilience. For residents, a successful fund could mean more predictable funding for schools, hospitals and rebuilding after storms.
But creating and running a sovereign wealth fund would require careful planning: a clear legal framework, strong governance and transparency, professional investment management, and realistic expectations given the BVI’s small economy. Policymakers would need to weigh immediate social needs against long-term asset building and ensure any fund complements—rather than replaces—existing public services.
Skelton Cline’s call has opened a public policy conversation about long-term economic planning in the territory. If taken forward, the idea would likely prompt feasibility studies, public consultations and debates on how best to structure and capitalise a fund that serves Virgin Islanders now and in the future.
Primary source: BVI News