InvestSafe™ Program Off To A Running Start

The NACo Financial Service Center’s (FSC) latest initiative, the InvestSafe™ program is off to a running start. Since the program was launched in June 1998, 17 state associations of counties have endorsed the program and formal program rollouts have begun in four states.

The InvestSafe program is designed to provide counties with powerful yet affordable software tools that make managing investment portfolios easier.

The cornerstone of the InvestSafe program, Evare Desktop Portfolio management software, has been well received thus far. "As we have presented this program to treasurers and finance officers across the United States, we have been extremely pleased with their positive response to the features of the software," commented Steve Swendiman, NACo FSC’s managing director.

"In fact, several treasurers have already implemented Evare Desktop portfolio management software in their counties and hundreds more are in the process of evaluating it."

The InvestSafe™ program is the result of a nationwide effort launched by the NACo Financial Services Center. The NACo FSC formed the InvestSafe program after an 18-month competitive bid process. Financial disasters resulting from inadequate policy compliance monitoring, such as in Orange County (Calif.), were an important stimulus to the development of InvestSafe.

The InvestSafe program recognizes that county treasurers often don’t have access to the tools they need to manage their investment portfolios effectively.

"Before I became a part of the InvestSafe program and started using Evare Desktop, I kept track of my portfolio using a cumbersome DOS-based program," says Fulton Sheen, treasurer of Allegany County, Mich.

Treasurers have also indicated that Evare Desktop has made it easier to maintain and monitor county compliance with investment policies at the national, state and local levels.

"The InvestSafe Program and Evare Desktop make it easy for anyone in county or local government to monitor compliance with national, state, and local investment policy requirements, including GASB 31," says Jeff Kern, Treasury Management Officer of Sarasota County, Fla.

Evare Desktop allows a treasurer to set the parameters of his investment policy right into the system. It is easy to print reports and graphs that allow everyone from the auditor to the commissioners to see that the county is in compliance with all investment policies.

Large counties like Oklahoma County (Okla.) have found that while affordable, Evare Desktop is a very powerful system, containing all the features they were looking for. Betty Hurt, investment officer for the county, indicated, "We performed a detailed search and issued an RFP, when we were looking for portfolio management software. We were looking for a system that could accurately account for our investments would be flexible enough to generate all kinds of reports on our portfolio activity. After reviewing several competitive systems, it was clear that Evare Desktop had everything we were looking for."

One of the most exciting aspects of the InvestSafe program is that it is designed to meet the needs of counties of all shapes and sizes. Not only large counties like Oklahoma County and Fulton County, Ga. have found that Evare Desktop meets their needs. Smaller counties like Becker County, Minn. are discovering that Evare Desktop is designed for them too.

"Evare Desktop works for us because it is very easy to use and very affordable for a system that does so much," says Rita Thompson of Becker County. "I’d recommend it to any county or local government that manages an investment portfolio."

NACo’s FSC and several state associations will be distributing start-up kits for the InvestSafe program in the coming months. The kit includes an interactive CD-ROM that gives county treasurers all the information they need to learn about the InvestSafe program and test its functionality.

If you would like to receive an InvestSafe program start-up kit or would just like more information about this new program, please contact Steve Swendiman at 202/942-4282.

(Financial Services News was written by Steve Swendiman, NACo FSC.)