The State Investment Council (SIC) is a non-cabinet level agency charged with managing New Mexico's Permanent Funds. The State Investment Council was established by an act of the 23rd Legislature, which was approved on March 28, 1957 and subsequently ratified by a constitutional amendment adopted by the citizens of New Mexico in the general election of 1958. The enabling legislation of the SIC is located at section 6-8-1, NMSA 1978. According to the terms of the legislation, responsibility for the investment of the Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF) was transferred to the State Investment Officer, subject to the policy direction of the State Investment Council. The State Investment Council was assigned the responsibility for managing the Severance Tax Permanent Fund (STPF) in 1983. In 1991 the Legislature authorized the SIC to provide investment management services for other state agencies. The 1997 legislature further expanded this client authorization to include all political subdivisions of New Mexico and the New Mexico Finance Authority. In 2000 the SIC began to manage the Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund, and in 2006 the Legislature created the Water Trust Permanent Fund with a $40 million allocation.

New Mexico's Endowment Funds are assets that represent the depletion of the state's natural resources and are intended to provide permanent and continuing benefits for all New Mexicans, both present and future. The State Investment Council seeks to optimize the Funds to insure that future generations receive the same benefits as current beneficiaries, and to professionally invest the Funds as provided by law to generate the maximum benefits over time to provide a current revenue source for the state's general fund.