The World of Treasury & Risk Management at UVA

Treasury and Risk Management became a part of UVAFinance in early 2019. Between them, the two units manage the University’s debt portfolio, banking and cash management, short-term investment and liquidity management, and maintaining property, casualty, and liability risk management and insurance.

At least, that’s their function in plain terms. When examined more closely, the reality of Treasury and Risk Management’s work is more dynamic.

Julie Richardson, University Treasurer, explains her units’ activities in terms of their impact on UVA’s day to day operations.

“What we do is like running a household.  Your paycheck is your income; here, it is tuition, revenue, gifts, Commonwealth support, sales and service.  You have a mortgage, and we have a debt portfolio.  You have a retirement account, we have the endowment and long-term pool.  You need insurance for your house and car, and we need insurance for buildings, vehicles and medical practices and so much more,” she explains.

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When you factor in all the complexity and size of the University, Treasury and Risk Management’s responsibilities multiply by several times. Adding to this complexity is the fact that the team doesn’t just think about UVA’s needs today, but instead, what the needs will be five, ten, or a hundred years down the road.

“We think almost to infinity,” laughs Richardson. 

A perfect example of this long-term thinking is the recent execution of three bond sales that took advantage of historically low rates and capital project financing for up to 100 years. (Read more on the UVAFinance blog here.)

Besides being long-term thinkers, Richardson sees another common thread with the Treasury and Risk Management team: the staff is made up of people who are comfortable with change and responding to that changing environment.

“It would be difficult to be a creature of habit and be on our team. When you deal in financial markets, you deal in the unknown. Markets go up and down in real time and you have to be nimble,” she says.

She elaborates by pointing out the everyday occurrences that are out of anyone’s control – occurrences like the recent chemical spill at the Battle Building, when the Risk Management team had to respond quickly to mitigate a difficult situation.

Academic pursuits like research, student education, and new programs often take time to come to fruition.  For Treasury and Risk Management both, however, their contributions frequently result in immediate feedback.

 “As soon as the price was set with the bond transactions, we knew we had raised money that was going to be helpful with the strategic plan.  When the team jumped in and handled the situation at the Battle building, there was an immediate impact made,” says Richardson.

Sometimes the difference is a big one, such as Treasury’s work with the Bicentennial Scholar program through the Strategic Investment Fund.  And sometimes it’s a small difference, like schools and departments receiving central assistance with banking needs, such remote deposit being offerred to schools and units. 

At the end of the day, whether the contribution is big or small, Richardson says that she and her staff are driven by knowing they make a difference.

“When your efforts have helped a student financially, saved a department some expenses, or coordinated strategic investment funding, you know you’ve made someone’s life better or easier.”

Learn more about Treasury & Risk Management at UVA:

https://treasurer.virginia.edu/
https://treasurer.virginia.edu/enterprise-risk-management