Evergreen Investments, the asset management arm of Wachovia Corp., has partnered with a North Carolina university to help create risk management tools.

Boston-based Evergreen struck an alliance with UNC Charlotte's Belk College of Business in March to develop four software modules, The Charlotte Observer reported. The company will pay faculty to help craft the the modules, which will be used internally by Evergreen and are aimed at helping the firm understand the impact of various types of risk on its investment portfolio.

The research will be done mostly by faculty members with expertise in econometrics. "I can't go hire all of those individual Ph.D.s to help with a project, but this way I get access to them," Glen Insley, managing director of risk management for Evergreen, told the Observer.

Through the alliance, students may complete paid internships and earn academic credit through related class projects, according to the report.

"This is the first time we've partnered with a university to develop a tool like this," Dan Flaherty, a spokesperson with Evergreen, told the MFWire.

Besides providing an opportunity to work with leading academics to enhance the firm's risk management tools, the alliance is part of efforts to "give back to the communities we have a presence in," Flaherty said. Wachovia, Evergreen's corporate parent, is headquartered in Charlotte. The university, meanwhile, gets an opportunity "to work with a leading money management firm," he said.  

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