Deferred Compensation Consultant Services

The Vendor is required to provide investment consulting services for: 
•    on-going consulting/administration for the city’s 457(b) and 401(a) deferred compensation plans, 
•    on-going administration for the city’s retirement health savings (RHS) plan, and 
•    related financial consulting services.
- Provide all recordkeeping, enrollment and communications services for the Plans.
- The city has established a deferred compensation & savings investment committee (Committee), however, the committee is relatively new and is currently in the process of developing bylaws.
- Consulting Services
•    The plan design and operations, strategic goals, communication and detailed investment education programs, industry best practices for both internal and plan service provider procedures; and federal and state law and regulatory changes. The consultant shall periodically work with city to review the plan documents in light of changes in governing law, industry best practices, and other developments affecting plan design and make recommendations for modifications to the plan document.
•    Industry and plan sponsor trends (government sector), new investment products and developing- industry best practices for both internal and external service provider functions.
•    Plan design, services, and fee benchmarking.
•    Investment strategies for structuring a retirement investment program suitable to the long-term needs and risk tolerances of each plan participant.
•    Stable value fund separate account structure, investment strategy, wrap provisions, performance, crediting rate, and fees.
•    Training for city’s committee and staff on fiduciary duties, industry or regulatory developments, or other pertinent topics, on request of the city.
•    Provide guidance on appropriate meeting cadence to effectively provide plan oversight. Attend scheduled committee meetings, present any prepared reports, and answer questions from committee members or staff during the meetings.
•    Other matters as requested by the plan.
- Investment Policy and Fund Searches
•    Assist the committee in the formulation and on-going review of policies and procedures pertaining to the plan's investment options and its administration.
•    Evaluate and make recommendations to the committee regarding the plan's investment options and potential modifications to the plan's investment structure or investment options
•    Subject to adoption by the committee, the consultant shall develop and periodically review and update the plan's investment policy for selection of appropriate investment fund managers, mutual funds or other suitable investments within the framework determined by the plan, including the asset classes that may be offered through the plan, criteria for selection of individual investment options and monitoring their performance; and the procedures and standards for review and replacement of investment options.
•    The consultant shall manage a "watch list" of investment options per the investment policy, including monitoring which investment options should be added to the list per the investment policy; monitoring their status; as needed, conducting comprehensive reviews of these investment options; and recommending removal of such investment options from the watch list or a search for an alternate investment.
•    The consultant shall perform searches and recommend alternative investment options as needed per the investment policy or as requested by the committee.
•    Update the committee on developments in the financial services industry and financial market and provide analysis and recommendations with respect to such developments.
- Investment Review Services
•    An economic overview and general market conditions for the reporting period.
•    A comparison of each investment option's performance to appropriate market indices and universes of similarly managed vehicles, consistent with the benchmarks for that asset class established in the investment policy.
•    Verification of investment style consistency for each investment option, consistent with that asset class.
•    A measurement of the risk characteristics of each investment option.
•    Historical performance with a focus on consistency.
•    Morningstar or equivalent ratings.
•    Comments on manager tenure and on the utilization of funds among participants.
•    A review of expenses and returns of each fund option.
•    An analysis of the extent to which investment policies have been carried out and how they have affected actual fund performance.
•    Recommendations for alternatives to address any of the above.
•    A summary of findings and recommendations based on the strengths and/or weaknesses of individual funds.