“This highest rating is a measure of how well King County is investing the public’s money,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, former chair of the King County Executive Finance Committee, the group that governs the process for managing the county’s Investment Pool. “The pool averaged about $3.2 billion last year and returned about $105 million on our investments. This highest rating affirms that our investment decisions are providing the highest level of protection of public funds.”
The King County Investment Pool is one of the largest in the State of Washington. The Pool seeks to obtain a market rate of return throughout budgetary and economic cycles while preserving and protecting capital. Last year was the first time King County submitted its Investment Pool for review by Standard & Poor’s.
According to the statement from Standard & Poor’s today, King County’s portfolio holdings are diversified and generally held in higher-rated, short-term securities. The “AAAf” rating assigned to the Pool's portfolio holdings indicates an extremely strong level of protection against losses from credit defaults. The Pool generally invests in high-quality credits, and conducts repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements with highly rated counterparties.
“This highest rating shows how seriously King County takes the
enforcement of existing guidelines regarding the investment of public
money,” said Councilmember Larry
Gossett, current chair of the
Executive Finance Committee. “We are striking the right balance
between protection of public funds and the need to put that money to
work. The return of $105 million on our wise investments increases
the funds available for public services for all of our participants.”
Phone: (206) 296-1000 | Fax: (206) 296-0198 | TTY/TDD:
(206) 296-1024 | Toll Free: (800) 325-6165
Mailing Address: King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, Room 1200,
Seattle, WA 98104-3272