The vendor is required to provide institutional investment advisory firm to assist with various functions, investment fund selection, and monitoring functions
• The advisory firm will meet with the benefits investment advisory committee (the committee) on a quarterly basis to provide expert and accountable guidance and recommendations that enable the committee to prudently exercise their fiduciary duty under applicable state and federal laws and regulations, as well as the university investment policy statement.
• The advisory firm may act as a 3(21) co-fiduciary for the core investment menus and as a 3(38) co-fiduciary for the five plans default investment
• The investment default, the advisory firm, in consultation with the benefits investment advisory committee, will choose the underlying investments, allocation, and set the glide path for each age vintage, as approved under the university governance structure for retirement plan investment approvals.
• The advisory firm may assist the university in updating the university’s investment policy statement to ensure compliance with relevant regulations.
• The advisory firm will advise the university on establishing procedures that may be necessary to execute the provisions outlined in the university’s investment policy statement.
• The advisory firm will perform the necessary research and analysis to produce reports with recommendations for investment fund alternatives to be considered for inclusion in the university retirement plans--based on professional analysis of the appropriate investment vehicles, and using the approved university investment policy statement.
• This can include annuities, institutional mutual funds, collective investment trusts, and other investments that may be available.
• The advisory firm will devise investment models for the committee’s consideration that would represent retirement industry’s best practices.
o Handling all arrangements with investment firms to provide access to any investment option, reviewed and recommended by the committee and approved by the university, for inclusion in the university retirement plans, 
o Conduct portfolio manager and analysis due diligence for existing and recommended asset managers and their strategies. 
o Provide retirement plan record-keeping benchmark pricing on at least an annual basis
• The advisory firm must present a quarterly report to the committee that provides the following:
o The performance of the selected investments compared to their commonly agreed upon market benchmarks.
o The performance of the selected investment funds considering the relevant standards from the university investment policy statement. 
o Recommendations for monitoring and replacement of funds for the coming measurement period and analysis of the new funds for selection and review by the committee and approved by the university. 
o Aggregate financial analysis of the plans’ performance with comparison to industry benchmarks, including plan expenses and investment fund fees.
• Provide participant financial education and investment advice capabilities delivered by registered representatives of the advisory firm.
• The advisory firm will advise and assist the committee and university with requests for proposals on a variety of plan related services including investment managers, recordkeepers and other third-party providers to help the university administer the five retirement plans.
• The advisory firm must provide the committee with applicable fiduciary training and inform the committee of legal and regulatory changes that may affect the operation of the university’s retirement plans.
- Contract Period/Term: 5 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: June 17, 2025