The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Washington, has put out a "pre-solicitation" ahead of a planned request for proposals seeking two investment managers to manage a portion of each of its four index funds.
The $578.8 billion Thrift Savings Plan, the retirement system for 5.4 million federal employees and members of the uniformed services, offers participants five investment funds: four index funds managed by BlackRock and one fund made up of specially issued Treasury securities that is managed internally by the board.
The board is making the move in order to mitigate risk, Kim Weaver, director of external affairs confirmed Thursday after first speaking with Pensions & Investments about the planned RFP late last year. BlackRock is eligible to submit a bid once the RFP goes out and a decision will be reached sometime in 2020, she added.
After the managers are selected, a change will be made to the TSP's I Fund — one of the index funds that invests in international equities — to incorporate emerging markets, Ms. Weaver said. After looking at making the change to its investment lineup five years ago, the board now feels there's sufficient liquidity in emerging markets to move forward, she said.
The pre-solicitation is available at fbo.gov. The formal solicitation is expected on or about June 1.