Treasury Year in Review

The mission of the Louisiana Department of the Treasury is to promote prudent cash management and investment strategies in the administration of state funds.

We take our job very seriously, and our efforts are paying off. Fiscal Year 2007 proved to be another solid year in terms of investment and program performance for the Treasury.

Each year, we publish these results in an Annual Summary on the Financial Condition of the State for the Governor, the Legislature and members of the public. Some of the financial highlights from this year’s annual report, which is available online at www.latreasury.com, include:

– Managing the state’s cash flow of over $33.4 billion and $10.5 billion in total invested funds.

– Exceeding the $3.7 billion mark for the General Fund investment portfolio’s cumulative income (since 1968).

– Earning $473.6 million from investment activities including more than $238.2 million in the Treasury Portfolios/General Fund. Earnings on state investments increased by $157.8 million over the previous fiscal year.

– Generating more than $163 million in earnings for the state’s three major trust funds, which had the following cash basis simple yields: 5.86 percent for the Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund, 4.64 percent for the Millennium Trust Fund, and 5.51 percent for the Medicaid Trust Fund.

– Growing the Millennium Trust Fund for health care, education and TOPS from an original investment of $912 million in 2001 to more than $1.2 billion today.

– Awarding $276 million worth of certificates of deposit to 70 banks statewide.

– Refinancing debt statewide for a savings to taxpayers of $30 million.

– Collecting a record $48.4 million in unclaimed property from Louisiana businesses and refunding another all-time record $20.7 million in missing money to Louisiana residents.

– Working with the Office of Student Financial Assistance to expand the START Savings Program to 27,647 accounts and $170 million in total deposits. Fixed income investments in START earned a rate of return of 5.28 percent. Depending on the option chosen, equity investments in the program (managed by The Vanguard Group) earned 5.56 percent to 15.52 percent.

The Treasury will continue to work to earn the best rate possible on taxpayer dollars and meet our goal of financial strength and durability of the state.

We will continue to work to improve the state’s finances, investment performance and credit rating.