TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF AUGUST 14, 2008
COMMITTEE ON PURCHASING
Mr. Richard Lanyon, General Superintendent
Title
Authorization to enter into an agreement for Contract 08-RFP-14 (Retiree Health Trust Investment Consulting Services) with ICMA Retirement Corporation for a three-year period in an amount not to exceed $136,000.00
Body
Dear Sir:
The District’s Retiree Health Care Plan and Trust (the “Trust”) charges the Treasurer with responsibility for appointing financial advisors and consultants, subject to the approval of the Board of Commissioners, which acts as Trustee for the Plan.
On March 19, 2008, Request for Proposal No. 08-RFP-14 was publicly advertised. The scope of work defined in this Request for Proposal included assistance with the development of the investment policy and procedures; asset selection, allocation, and evaluation strategies; portfolio analysis; reporting; training; and other support services.
Fifty-one (51) firms were notified and twenty-eight (28) firms requested proposal documents. The District received ten proposals from the following vendors: Dahab Associates, Inc.; Deloitte & Touche Investment Advisors LLC; Evaluation Associates LLC; Gray & Company; ICMA Retirement Corporation (ICMA-RC); Marco Consulting Group; Merrill Lynch; PFM Asset Management LLC; Segal Advisors; and US Bank.
The proposals were reviewed and evaluated by staff members from the Treasury, Personnel, Finance, and Purchasing Departments using the established criteria identified in the RFP. The criteria included understanding of the project, approach to work, technical competence, and cost of services. Based on this review, the top six proposers were identified as finalists and invited to present to the District regarding the services to be provided. The finalists were Deloitte & Touche Investment Advisors LLC; Evaluation Associates LLC; Gray & Company; ICMA-RC; PFM Asset Management LLC; and US Bank.
The six finalists were interviewed by the Selection Committee and given the opportunity to submit an unqualified “best and final” offer to the Purchasing Agent by June 19, 2008. Based on the evaluation of the proposals using the criteria described above and on the interviews, it is recommended that a service agreement be awarded to ICMA-RC.
ICMA-RC has been providing independent investment consulting services since 1972 and currently provides investment management, record-keeping, and administrative services for over 4,000 governmental plan sponsors. They have extensive experience in establishing, funding, and operating retiree health care benefit trusts.
ICMA-RC has an established, proactive Minority and Women Vendor Policy and has agreed to undertake good faith efforts to ensure qualified Protected Class Enterprises (PCE) are utilized in the performance of this contract. Services have been contracted for Gray & Company (MBE) to provide investment performance reports and other consulting services for the Trust’s investments in the amount of $27,201 or 20% of the value of the agreement. Due to the specialized nature of the work to be performed under this contract, and because no participant-level activities are involved, ICMA-RC is finding it challenging to identify additional PCE partners that can provide commercially useful services to the District to meet the WBE/SBE goal. They continue to review the services required and will seek such vendors that can add value to the Trust as needs arise.
In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that the Purchasing Agent be authorized to enter into an agreement with ICMA Retirement Corporation for a three-year period in an amount not to exceed $136,000.00. OPEB Trust monies will be utilized to pay this expense.
Requested, Harold G. Downs, Treasurer, HGD:MAB:wns
Recommended, Darlene A. LoCascio, Purchasing Agent
Respectfully Submitted, Barbara J. McGowan, Chairman Committee on Purchasing
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for August 14, 2008