Jan. 9, 2006
King County Investment Pool receives highest rating from Standard & Poor's
The King County Investment Pool was assigned the highest credit quality rating today by Standard and Poor's Rating Services. The King County Investment Pool is the first local government investment pool in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) to receive Standard & Poor's highest level of protection rating with the designation "AAAf.'
"I'm proud that the fiscal discipline practiced by King County managers and leaders is being recognized in such a significant way," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "The rating demonstrates to taxpayers and all participants in our pool that we are investing public funds in a manner that is safe, prudent and consistently effective."
The King County Investment Pool invests cash reserves for all King County agencies and approximately 100 special districts and other government entities such as school, fire, sewer and water districts, Sound Transit and the Public Stadium Authority (Qwest Field). It is one of the largest investment pools in the State of Washington with an average asset balance over $3.2 billion.
The rating indicates an extremely strong level of protection against losses from credit defaults as measured on a seven category credit quality rating scale from "AAAf" (highest level) to "CCCf" (lowest level). Standard & Poor's also recognized the pool's conservative investment strategy and low-sensitivity to fluctuating market conditions by assigning the pool an ‘S1' volatility rating, as measured on a six point scale ranging from "S1" (lowest volatility) to "S6" (highest volatility).
Over the long run, the pool has achieved a competitive investment return, while being invested in prudent and liquid securities. These desirable qualities have substantially increased participation in the pool, with over 100 local governments joining the pool between 1993 and 2005. In 2005, the pool distributed nearly $105 million in investment earnings to its participants.
King County's Finance and Business Operations Division is responsible for the day to day management of the pool. Investment policies are established by King County's Executive Finance Committee. The guidelines established by the Executive Finance Committee direct that the pool be managed so that it attains a market rate of return throughout budgetary and economic cycles, while preserving and protecting capital. The members of the Executive Finance Committee include: Councilmember Larry Gossett, Chair; Paul Tanaka, County Administrative Officer; Bob Cowan, Director, Office of Management and Budget; and; Ken Guy, Director, Finance and Business Operations Division.
Additional information:
- Standard & Poor's press release (39KB PDF)