Fitch gives county investment fund highest rating: AAA

SAN DIEGO – San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced that Fitch Ratings gave its highest rating to the San Diego County investment pool.

It marks the 20th year in a row the investment pool has received a "AAA" rating. Fitch Ratings indicated the pool has the highest underlying credit quality or lowest vulnerability to default and a very low sensitivity to market risk.

"Our investment pool reached $11.4 billion in public funds last April, thanks to the diligent management by our investment team," McAllister said. "They value three principles: safeguarding the principal of the invested funds, meeting the liquidity needs of our pool participants and achieving an investment return with prudent risk management."

The Treasurer-Tax Collector's team invests the funds in high quality securities on behalf of the pool's participants, who use the money for the operational and capital needs of their agencies.

Currently, 210 public agencies in the San Diego region invest in the pool, including all 42 public school districts, five community college districts, the San Diego Regional Airport Authority, San Diego Association of Governments, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and other public agencies such as cities, fire and water districts.

In addition to the team of full-time investment professionals in the treasury, an 11-member oversight committee comprised of county, school, and public agency officials and five public members reviews the county's investment policy statement annually.

"The AAA rating is not only good for our bottom line, it's good for San Diego taxpayers," Supervisor Dianne Jacob said. "It gives us the financial flexibility to improve county operations and invest in needed public improvements."

Submitted by the San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector.