The West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments (BTI), which manages the short-term investments for the state, is being recognized for both Standard & Poor’s AAAm rating and financial reporting excellence.
For the 14th straight year, Standard & Poor’s has re-affirmed its AAAm ratings for the BTI’s WV Money Market and WV Government Money Market pools. In addition to the distinguished rating, the BTI also received a Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (CAFR).
At the BTI’s annual board meeting, Brown Edwards audit partner Norman Yoder explained this year’s CAFR is particularly noteworthy.
“Receipt of the CAFR award with zero comments is rarely found in the industry,” said Yoder. “I commend the BTI for its clean financial reporting and professional staff.”
The CAFR was judged by members of the GFOA Special Review Committee to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive spirit of “full disclosure.” The BTI was judged proficient in the twelve grading categories and received no comments or suggestions for improvement.
“Our financial reporting is something we are very proud of and emphasizes our attention to detail and commitment to transparency,” said BTI executive director Kara Hughes.
The BTI ended Fiscal Year 2019 with investment returns that placed the WV Money Market Pool first when ranked among 254 institutional prime money market funds for the quarter, fiscal year, and five year periods ending June 30, 2019. Likewise, the WV Government Money Market Pool ranked first when compared against 605 institutional government money market funds for the same time period.
“The high yields were attributable to not only the Fed rate hikes during the first half of Fiscal Year 2019, but also the low fees charged to manage the funds,” said Hughes. “Fees charged by the BTI are typically 11 basis points lower than investing directly in a prime money market fund.”
The BTI has investment options available to state agencies that have investment authority, as well as state political subdivisions. The BTI manages more than $5.1 billion in state funds. West Virginia State Treasurer John Perdue serves as Board chairman, as designated by state code. For more information on the BTI, visit www.wvbti.org.