East Bay Municipal Utility District Employees' Retirement System, Oakland, Calif., will conduct an invitation-only search for a custodian later this year.
The $1.8 billion pension fund's board at its March 19 meeting approved issuing a request for information to a shortlist of firms because it has not put the services up for bid since 1997, said Sophia D. Skoda, the district's director of finance.
Current custodian Northern Trust Corp., which has offered those services since 1997, will be invited to rebid, she said.
Ms. Skoda said the district will customize a request for information that investment consultant Meketa Investment Group sends annually to custodial banks.
The system's plan is currently to send the RFI to four to six banks that would be appropriate to offer services for the system, she said.
A specific timeline for the search has yet to be determined, she said. Before the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak became clear, the system hoped to complete the process by July, but that will likely be pushed back.
Meketa Investment Group is assisting.
