Request for Proposal

U.S. Equity Mandates

SURS Manager Diversity Program

June 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION I: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

General Information

Introduction

Background

SECTION II: ………………………………………………………………………………………...……4

Request for Proposal Objective

Purpose of Request for Proposal

Issuing Officer and Contacts

SECTION III: ……………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Scope, Qualifications and Information Requested

Minimum Qualifications

Legislative Considerations

Diversity Disclosure Requirements

Scope of Work

SECTION IV: ……………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Proposal Questions and Fee Proposals

Proposal Questions

Fee Proposals

SECTION V: …………………………………………………………………………………………….13

Submission of Proposal and Selection Process

Schedule

Submission Process

Proposal Evaluation

Terms and Conditions

FOIA Disclosure

SECTION VI: ……………………………………………………………………………………………18

Definitions and Appendices

Definitions under Illinois Law

APPENDIX A: Minimum Requirements Certification

APPENDIX B: Diversity Profile

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

FOR U.S. EQUITY MANDATES

SECTION I: GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Introduction:

The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) requests proposals from qualified minority-, female-, and persons with a disability-owned (MFDB) investment management firms (Responders) to provide an active or structured active U.S. Equity product in the following U.S. equity sub-asset classes: Small-Cap Value/Core/Growth, Mid-Cap Value/Core/Growth, Smid-Cap Value/Core/Growth, Large-Cap Value, and All-Cap Growth. Manager of Managers programs will be considered for only the U.S. Small-Cap Core and All-Cap Growth mandates. The information is requested with regard to the System’s Manager Diversity Program, which was created in an effort to assist the development of minority-, female- and persons with a disability- owned investment management firms.

2. Background:

Created in 1941, SURS exists as a body politic and corporate governed by a board of trustees in accordance with Illinois Law. The SURS Board of Trustees currently consists of six (6) elected and five (5) appointed members, including the chair of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, who also serves as the chair of the SURS Board of Trustees. The SURS Board of Trustees delegates their authority to the executive director and nearly 130 full-time staff in administering the provisions of Articles 1, 15 and 20 of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5).

Administrative functions performed by SURS Staff include processing retirement, survivor, disability and death benefits for more than 230,000 members who have current or previous employment with 61 higher education entities in Illinois.

Located in Champaign, Illinois SURS offices are roughly 130 miles south of Chicago, 125 miles west of Indianapolis, and 85 miles east of Springfield. Additional information regarding SURS can be obtained at

Defined Benefit Plan Investment Program

As of December 31, 2016, the DB plan trust totaled $16.9 billion with a strategic target asset allocation as follows:

Target

U.S. Equity 23%

Non-U.S. Equity 19%

Global Equity 8%

Core Fixed Income 19%

Emerging Markets Debt 3%

TIPS 4%

Private Equity 6%

Real Estate 6%

REITS 4%

Hedged Strategies 5%

Opportunity Fund 1%

Commodities 2%

SECTION II: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OBJECTIVE

1. Purpose of Request for Proposal

SURS is requesting information from qualified MFDB investment managers to actively manage one or more U.S. Equity Market strategies. The overall goal of the fund will be to exceed the return of the specified benchmark net of fees plus an Active Manager Premium (75-200 bps) over a full business cycle (3-5 year period). It is anticipated that this separate account portfolio will be initially funded with approximately $25-100 million for each mandate.

It is anticipated investment managers may be selected for growth, value, and/or core strategies in the U.S. Equity asset class.

2. Issuing Officer, Contacts and Lobbying

SURS is issuing this RFP. The Issuing Officers identified below are the sole points of contact regarding this RFP. No contacts with any other employee of SURS, members of the Board of Trustees, or state officials are permitted with respect to this RFP. The prohibition includes, but is not limited to, any lobbying efforts directed at state legislators or any state officer or employee who might reasonably be considered to have influence over the process and final outcome.

The Issuing Officers for this RFP are:

Alex RamosDeAnna I. Jones

Investment OfficerSenior Analyst

SURSNEPC

Additional information regarding Submission of responses to this RFP is set forth in Section V below under the heading “Submission of Proposal and Selection Process”

SECTION III: SCOPE, QUALIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION REQUESTED

1. Minimum Qualifications

Failure to satisfy each of the minimum qualifications will result in the immediate rejection of the proposal. The responder must address each of the qualifications substantiating how the responder satisfies each of the minimum qualifications. The responses must contain sufficient information as prescribed to assure SURS of its accuracy. Failure to provide complete information will result in rejection of the proposal.

1. The responder’s key professionals and/or organization must not have material conflicts of interest with the SURS Board, its custodian, or its investment managers.

2. The responder must be willing to enter into a most favored nation clause certifying that the fees, costs, or pricing charged to SURS do not exceed the fees, costs, or pricing charged by the responder to any of its clients for the same or similar level of services.

3. Proposing firm must be SEC-registered or exempt from registration with the nature of the exemption provided. The firm must submit its full Form ADV (Parts I and II).

4. Proposing firm must agree to serve as a “fiduciary” to the Fund within the meaning of Illinois legislation and to act in accordance with all requirements and standards of conduct applicable to fiduciaries.

5. Responder and its proposed team have all authorizations, permits, licenses and certifications required by federal and state laws and regulations to perform the services specified in this RFP at the time Responder submits a response to the RFP. Responder’s audited financial statements must be made available for review.

6. Responder will comply with all legislation regarding investment restrictions, applicable State fiduciary, ethics, and diversity laws, including any additional disclosure requirements as outlined above.

7. Responder must have completed the eVestment Database for the products submitted for consideration.

8. Responder must have an existing platform to offer SURS a separate account structure for the products submitted for consideration.

9. Responder or one or more principals of the firm must have three years or more experience managing equity portfolios.

10. Responding firms must have been in operation as an investment management organization for at least one year, as of June 30, 2017.

SURS retains the sole right to decide whether any Responder is qualified to bid, including determining whether any Responder’s qualifications are sufficiently comparable to satisfy all of the above minimum qualifications.

2. Legislative Considerations

Effective January 1, 2016, Section 1-110.16 of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/1-110.16) generally requires SURS to divest from direct holdings in “restricted companies” consisting of:

  1. Certain companies that boycott Israel by engaging in actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the State of Israel or companies based in the State of Israel or in territories controlled by the State of Israel;
  2. Certain companies that have business operations that involve contracts with or provision of supplies or services to the Government of Iran, companies which the Government of Iran has any direct or indirect equity share, consortiums or projects commissioned by the Government of Iran, or companies involved in consortiums or projects commissioned by the Government of Iran; and
  3. The government of Sudan and any of its agencies, companies under control of Sudan, companies established or organized in Sudan, companies identified or prosecuted by the Office of Foreign Assets in the U.S. Treasury Department as sponsoring terrorist activities in Sudan, or any publicly traded company whose principal place of business is in or conducts business in Sudan.

Index funds, mutual funds (or funds in which the System owns shares or interests together with other investors), and private market funds (which include private equity fund, private equity funds of funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds, hedge fund of funds, real estate funds, or other investment vehicles that are not publicly traded) are not subject to the divestment provisions. However, the Illinois Investment Policy Board will request that a private market fund manager consider removing restricted companies from the fund or create a similar actively managed fund having indirect holdings devoid of the companies. If such a fund is created, SURS is required to replace all applicable investments with investments in the similar fund in an expedited timeframe consistent with prudent investing standards.

The Illinois Governmental Ethics Act, 40 ILCS 420, provides guidelines for ethical practices concerning state and local pension plans. Respondent providers should be familiar with the provisions of this Act. The Act also encourages the Board to increase the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of its fiduciaries, to the greatest extent feasible within the bounds of financial and fiduciary prudence. In furtherance of this Act, SURS will use its best efforts to increase the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of its vendors/investment managers.

A section of the Illinois Procurement Code[1] concerning prohibitions of political contributions for vendors, 30 ILCS 500/50-37, may or may not apply to SURS investment managers or other service providers. However, each investment manager or service provider should be familiar with the provisions of this section and comply with this section if the investment manager or service provider deems it appropriate.

Provisions of Illinois law (40 ILCS 5/1-109.1) encourage certain public retirement funds and investments boards to increase:

  • The utilization of emerging investment managers (with goals for specific asset classes for emerging managers that are minority-owned businesses, female-owned business, and businesses owned by a person with a disability;
  • The racial, ethnic and gender diversity of its fiduciaries, including its consults and senior staff;
  • The utilization of business owned by minorities, females, and persons with disabilities for all contracts and services.
  • The utilization of minority broker-dealers; and
  • The utilization of minority investment funds

Public Act 99-0462 establishes the following aspirational goals for certain public retirement systems, pension funds, and investment boards, beginning January 1, 2006:

  • The utilization of emerging investment managers for not less than 20 percent of the total funds under management;
  • That not less than 20 percent of investment advisors are minorities, females, and persons with disabilities; and
  • The utilization of businesses owned by minorities, females, and persons with disabilities for not less than 20 percent of contracts awarded for information technology services, accounting services, insurance brokers, architectural and engineering services, and legal services.

For these reasons, the SURS Board of Trustees encourages individuals who are minorities, females, and persons with a disability, as well as firms owned by minorities, females, and persons with a disability to respond to this RFP.

3. Diversity Disclosure Requirements

Effective January 1, 2015 Section 1-113.21 of the Illinois Pension Code prohibits certain public retirement systems, pension funds, and investment boards from awarding a contract, oral or written, for investment services, consulting services, or commitment to a private market fund, unless the investment advisor, consultant or private market fund first discloses:

  • The number and percentage of its investment and senior staff who are: i) a minority person, ii) a female, and iii) a person with a disability;
  • The number of contracts, oral or written, for investment services, consulting services, and professional and artistic services that the investment advisor, consultant, or private market fund has with i) a minority-owned business, ii) a female-owned business, or iii) a business owned by a person with a disability and;
  • The number of contracts, oral or written, for investment services, consulting services, and professional and artistic services the investment advisor, consultant, or private market fund has with a business other than: i) a minority-owned business, ii) a female-owned business, or iii) a business owned by a person with a disability, if more than 50 percent of services performed pursuant to the contract are performed by i) a minority person, ii) a female, and iii) a person with a disability.

Each responder (even if the responder may not be in fact an “investment adviser, consultant, or private market fund”) must disclose this information in Appendix A. Failure to completely fill out this information on Appendix A may result in disqualification from consideration.

4. Scope of Work

A. General

SURS is requesting information from qualified firms to provide management of active or structured active U.S. products.

SURS currently utilizes active management against the following benchmarks:

Benchmark / Current Assets
($ Millions)
Russell 2000 / $166
Russell 2000 Growth / $162
Russell Midcap Value / $181
Russell Midcap Core / $132

SURS currently is interested in possibly adding the following mandates:

Benchmark / Potential Assets
($ Millions)
Russell 2000 Value / $25-100
Russell Midcap Growth / $25-100
Russell 1000 Value / $25-100
Russell 3000 Growth / $25-100
Russell Growth Blend for Manager of Manager / $100
Russell 2500 Value / $25-100
Russell 2500 / $25-100
Russell 2500 Growth / $25-100

B. Specific

Enumerated below are the specific items requested from respondent firms.

1. Letter of Transmittal: A letter of transmittal must be submitted on the Responder’s official letterhead. The letter must identify all documents provided collectively as a response to the RFP, and must be signed by an individual authorized to bind the Responder contractually. An unsigned proposal will be rejected. The letter must also contain the following:

  • Statement that the proposal is being made without fraud or collusion; that the Responder has not offered or received any finder’s fees, inducements or any other form of remuneration, monetary or non-monetary, from any individual or entity relating to the RFP.
  • Statement that discloses any current business relationship or any current negotiations for prospective business with the Board or any SURS Board Members or SURS Staff.
  • Statement that the proposing firm has been in compliance with SURS Quiet Period Policy and Ex-Parte Communications Policy.

2. Minimum Qualification Certification: The Responder must complete the certification in Appendix A and provide all supporting documentation.

3. Diversity Disclosures (per Illinois Pension Code Section 1-113.21): The Responder must complete the required disclosures regarding staff and vendor diversity in the form provided in Appendix B.

4. eVestment Alliance Database Submission: (Data as of June 30, 2017): Populating the eVestment Alliance database with your firm and product information is essential to the completion of the RFP process. If the database is not fully populated, your firm’s response will be considered incomplete and could be grounds for discontinuing consideration of your firm’s product for this search. The database is provided by eVestment Alliance, which can be located on the web at:

The eVestment Alliance database gathers firm and product data including but not limited to:

Assets under management:

  • Qualitative description of firm and product
  • Investment professionals gained and lost, work experience and education
  • Product holdings and characteristics
  • Performance for vehicles recommended
  • Composite description AIMR disclosures

Please be sure to leave no fields blank. Respond as 0, none, or N/A only when necessary. You will not be contacted to fill in missing fields. Use additional comment fields provided to make qualifying notes as applicable. If your firm does not already utilize the eVestment Alliance database, you can register at: There is no charge for supplying data to eVestment Alliance. After you have provided the information to eVestment Alliance, please print off a copy of the information you have provided and return with your response to the RFP.

SECTION IV: PROPOSAL QUESTIONS AND FEE PROPOSALS

A. Proposal Questions

1. Organization and History

  1. Provide the name, title, address, e-mail address, and telephone number of the individual responsible for responding to this request.
  1. Describe the ownership structure. Describe the percentage owned by employees and its distribution. What percentage does the majority owner hold? Please provide the name, relationship and percentage ownership of:
  2. Each parent organization
  3. Other affiliated organizations
  1. Describe the material developments in your organization (changes in ownership, personnel, business, etc.) over the past three years in detail. Are there any changes anticipated in the coming year?
  1. Describe the objectives of your firm with respect to future growth, commenting on new products or services over the next three to five years.
  2. Detail any pending agreements to merge or sell your company or any of its units, or if your firm has any pending agreements to acquire another company offering similar services.
  3. Explain how your firm will manage its growth plans, including acquiring additional resources and capacity limitations.
  4. Describe any anticipated changes in the firm’s basic ownership structure or any other significant changes in the organization.
  5. Please detail plans for personnel growth and succession planning for this period of time as well.
  1. Provide an organizational chart diagramming the relationships between the professional staff as well as the parent-subsidiary, affiliate, or joint venture entities.
  1. Describe the levels (U.S. dollar amounts) of coverage for SEC-required (17g-1) fidelity bonds, errors and omissions coverage and any other fiduciary coverage which your firm carries. List the insurance carriers supplying the coverage.
  1. Please indicate whether the firm is certified as a Minority, Women, or Disabled Business Enterprise (MWDBE) as defined by the Illinois Business Enterprise for Minorities, Females, and Persons with Disabilities Act. If so, please provide a copy of the firm’s certification.
  1. Based on your firm’s legal structure, asset management and trading activities please provide a summary of which regulatory bodies you are required to be registered with, including the SEC, CFTC and National Futures Association.
  1. When was your firm’s last external audit? Identify the firm that conducted the audit. Please discuss any material findings. Has the firm changed auditors in the past three years? If so, explain.
  1. Has your firm been the subject of an audit, censure (fine), inquiry or administrative action by the SEC, IRS, CFTC, DOL or other regulatory agencies in the past 7 years? If so, explain findings and provide a copy, as well as evidence of any changes in procedures implemented as a result of such audit.
  1. Discuss your organization’s compensation and incentive program. How are professionals evaluated and rewarded? What incentives are provided to attract and retain superior individuals? If equity ownership is possible, on what basis is it determined and distributed? How is the departure of a shareholder treated?
  1. Provide information regarding the expiration date of current employment contracts with key personnel. Please include discussion of long term incentives, options or performance clauses.
  1. Please provide details on the financial condition of the firm (i.e., most recent annual report filed with the SEC).

2. Staffing-Investment Professionals