New Jersey seeks proxy, class-action services

The New Jersey Division of Investment issued an RFP for three services — proxy research and voting; securities class-action monitoring; and an optional proxy voting guideline review — for the $76.7 billion New Jersey Pension Fund, Trenton, according to information posted on the website of the division, which is a unit of the state Department of Treasury.

The division intends to award contracts to a maximum of two firms, the RFP said.

The proxy research and voting contract as well as the class-action monitoring services contract each will be for three years, the RFP said. Each contract could be extended for a pair of one-year terms subject to negotiations.

The optional proxy voting guidelines review contract is for a project with a fixed price "with a timeline to be agreed upon" by the division and the contractor, the RFP stated.

During the 2017 proxy season, the division of investment voted proxies for 1,064 U.S. meetings and 3,216 non-U.S. meetings, the RFP said.

The current provider is Institutional Shareholder Services, and it is welcome to bid, Jennifer Sciortino, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department wrote in an email.

Proposals are due by 3 p.m. (EDT) May 11.