WAYNE COUNTY EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
FOR
DIRECTED BROKERAGE
ISSUE DATE: Friday, March 29, 2013
PROPOSAL DEADLINE: Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. EST.
Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System
28 W. Adams, Suite 1900
Detroit, MI 48226
CONTACT: Robert J. Grden, Director
Phone:(313) 224-2822
Email:
The term for Directed Brokerage Service is for 2 years.
Sealed Proposals are due Thursday, April 25, at 3:00 p.m. eastern time, and must be delivered to Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System (WCERS), Attn: Robert J. Grden, 28 W. Adams, Suite 1900, Detroit, MI 48226. Respondents mailing proposals should allow normal mail delivery time to ensure timely receipt of their proposal. Sealed proposals must be in the actual possession of the WCERS on or prior to the exact date and time indicated above. The WCERS timestamp shall be the official time. Late proposals shall not be accepted. NO EXCEPTIONS
PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING - There will be no pre-proposal meeting concerning this RFP. All questions should be directed to Executive Director, Robert Grden. He can be reached at . Email is the only method of communication, please include RFP question in the subject line of all emails to ensure a response.
Proposals sent by telegraph, facsimile or other electronic means will not be considered.
Contacting any member of the Retirement Commission during this RFP process by a respondent is grounds for immediate disqualification of said respondent.
WAYNE COUNTY EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
A. OVERVIEW
The Retirement Commission Board of Trustees (Board) of the Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System (WCERS) is in the process of reviewing its Directed Brokerage services. The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to define the Board's minimum requirements, to solicit proposals, and to gain adequate information from which the Board may evaluate such services. The Board is seeking Directed Brokerage Services for the defined benefit plan. The defined contribution plan is managed separately and is not a part of this proposal.
The Retirement Commission is the Trustee of the assets of the retirement system and acts as in the full capacity as Investment Fiduciaries. Retirement staff acts on the direction of the Retirement Commission and supports the Commission by providing the information it receives from third parties to the Commission in a timely manner. The Retirement Commission has the authority to invest and reinvest the assets of the Retirement System subject to all terms, conditions, limitations and restrictions imposed by the State of Michigan on the investments of public employee retirement systems.
The Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System has a total market value of approximately ($750) million Dollars and is a qualified plan under IRS regulations.
B. DIRECTED BROKERAGE ROLE
A directed brokerage arrangement is an arrangement whereby an investment manager executing trades on behalf of the Board and to execute trades through a specific broker, or list of participating brokers, for the benefit of the WCERS.
C. SCOPE OF SERVICES
I. Purpose
The purpose of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is to evaluate and promote the utilization of Directed Brokerage Relationships as a means to reduce trading costs passed on to the WCERS and provide a basis for the selection of Directed Brokers by the Board.
II. Minimum Qualifications
In order to be considered a firm must at a minimum meet the following qualifications:
1. Must be a member of the New York Stock Exchange.
2. Must be registered with the Security and Exchange Commission.
3. Must have offices in the United States.
4. Must have local registered representatives.
III. General Requirements
1. Contacting any member of the Board during this RFP process by a respondent is
grounds for immediate disqualification of said respondent.
2. All answers to the questionnaire must be answered in the order presented.
3. The Executive Director may reject any or all RFP's. The WCERS may solicit new proposals if it deems it in the best interest of the WCERS.
4. The WCERS may seek additional information from any and all respondents.
5. The WCERS may negotiate at its discretion with any or all respondents.
6. Incomplete RFP's may be disqualified by the WCERS.
7. All costs incurred by respondents for the submission of this RFP will be their sole responsibility.
8. RFP's received after the deadline will not be considered.
9. As a result of this RFP, the WCERS may or may not make any changes to its current arrangements at its sole discretion for the benefit of the WCERS.
RFP Responses
1. Name of Firm
2. Firm Address
3. Firm Telephone
4. Fax
5. Email Address
6. Individual(s) dedicated to this account.
Name
Number of years working with Public Fund in the State of Michigan
Telephone Number(s)
Fax
Email Address (es)
7. Are all Individuals Registered?
a. Date of Registration
b. Type of Registrations(s)
8. Does your firm meet the all of the minimum requirements? If not please explain.
9. Please give a brief history of your firm.
10. What is the Principal Business of your firm?
11. Is your firm a Registered Broker Dealer?
12. Please describe your trading capabilities for both listed and unlisted equities.
13. Does your firm have a Proprietary trading desk, or does it use a third party?
14. Does your firm have a proprietary clearing desk or does it employ a third party?
15. Is your firm a member of Depository Trust Corporation (DTC)?
16. Does your firm have the ability to handle Delivery versus Payment (DVP) trades?
17. Describe how your firm handles failed trades or Don't Know (DK's)
18. At what point does your Firm implement a "Buy ln" or "Sell Out" on failed trades?
19. If there's a loss or a profit on the "Buy In" or "Sell Out" how does your firm handle it?
20. Is your firm able to execute special settle trades such as same day settle?
21. Does your firm execute all trades on a "Best Execution" basis?
22. Can the portfolio managers for the Retirement System place trades directly with your
firm's trading desk?
23. Does your firm have a Disaster Recovery Plan in place?
24. Name of Person responsible for this RFP?
a. Telephone Number
b. E-mail
c. Fax Number
d. Date Completed
25. What are your firm's fees?
a. Listed Equities?
b. Unlisted Equities?
26. Does your Firm have minimum requirements?
a. Minimum commission amount?
b. Minimum share amount?
c. Minimum trade dollar amount?
27. Has any employee agent or representative that will be assigned to this account been disciplined, censored or cited by any regulatory agency? If so, please explain date and resolution.
28. Has any employee, agent or representative that will be assigned to this account received
any customer complaints?
29. Why should The Retirement Commission choose your firm for its Directed Brokerage?
Please be brief.
D. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Interested parties to this RFP must submit (3) written copies and 1 electronic copy, in a package clearly labeled on the outside RFP: Directed Brokerage to:
Robert J. Grden, Executive Director
Wayne County Employees' Retirement System
28 W. Adams, Suite 1900
Detroit, MI 48226
In addition a written disclosure is required, signed by your compliance officer, that your firm has complied with the quiet period for this RFP for all board members listed below since the issuance of this RFP, March 29, 2013 to the present. No disclosure is required for the Executive Director, Robert Grden.
· Lorenzo Moner
· Patrick Melton
· Hugh Macdonald
· Elizabeth Misuraca
· Andrea Hutting
· Charles Bonza
· Gary Woronchak
· Kevin Kelley
Submission Deadline
Your response to this RFP must be received at the above address by 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, 2013.
The WCERS appreciates the time and effort you will have expended in responding
to this RFP.
Quiet Period: All communications, any modifications, clarifications, amendments, questions, responses, or any other matters related to this RFP must be made only through the Retirement Contact noted on the cover of this RFP. No contact regarding this document with other Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System employee or Retirement Board Member is permitted, and shall be grounds for disqualification.
E. EVALUATION
1. Evaluation of Proposals: proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria:
- Scope of Services
- Experience with Public plans, in particular public plans in the State of Michigan.
- Staffing and resources
- Fees
- Location and availability to the Retirement System
The WCERS appreciates the time and effort you will have expended in responding to this RFP. Thank you for your anticipated submission.
SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS:
The undersigned certifies it has attached a complete response to each of the submittal requirements listed in the Evaluation Criteria and Submittal Requirements section of this RFP.
No proposal shall be accepted which has not been manually signed in ink in the appropriate space below:
I certify, under penalty of perjury, that I have the legal authorization to bind the firm hereunder:
For clarification of this offer, contact:
Name:
Company Name
Title:
Address
Phone:
City State Zip
Fax:
Signature of Person Authorized to Sign
Email:
Printed Name
Title
Federal Tax ID
Acknowledged before me by ______(name) as ______(title)
of ______(company) this ____ (day) of ______, 201__.
Notary Signature: ______
My Commission Expires: ______
Affix Seal
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