Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, is considering five firms in its search for prime brokerage services: Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, New Edge, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Bank of New York Mellon unit Pershing LLC.
In its search for collateral management services, FSBA is considering BNY Mellon, Citigroup and State Street Bank & Trust.
The board could make a decision by Wednesday, John Kuczwanski, communications manager, said. FSBA, which oversees $171.8 billion in assets, issued the RFP for both services in June.
BNP Paribas, incumbent prime services brokerage firm, and Bank of New York Mellon, incumbent provider of collateral management services, have contracts that will remain in place as the board seeks to expand providers for both services. In the search, BYN Mellon is bidding to provide expanded services from what it provides under its current contract, Mr. Kuczwanski said.
FSBA seeks to expand its service providers to mitigate concentration risk.
Prime services include prime brokerage in short-selling of securities, foreign-exchange prime brokerage, and clearing for futures, options and over-the-counter derivatives, including swaps, according to the solicitation.
Collateral management includes margin collateral custody and management services related to prime services.
FSBA is handling the search internally without the use of an investment consulting firm, Mr. Kuczwanski said.