New York State Teachers' Retirement System, Albany, issued a pair of investment consulting RFPs — one for private equity/debt and the other for real estate equity/debt.
The RFPs are routine and are "intended to ensure the system is keeping pace with the evolving consultant landscape," said Heidi Brennan, a spokeswoman for the $129.6 billion pension system, in an email.
The pension fund will explore offering a contract to a single firm for the private equity/debt category and one for the real estate equity/debt category, Ms. Brennan said.
However, it may award separate contracts for each asset class or as many as four contracts — private equity, private debt, real estate equity and real estate debt — "if doing so best meets the system's needs," she added.
StepStone Group is the incumbent current private equity/debt consultant, and Callan is the incumbent real estate equity/debt consultant. Both are invited to rebid, Ms. Brennan wrote.
As of Dec. 31, real estate equity was 13% of total plan assets; private equity was 10.6% of total assets; real estate debt, 6.2%; and private debt, 1.3%.
Proposals for the real estate equity/debt consultant are due May 12. Initial interviews are scheduled for mid-July. The contract will be awarded on or about Nov. 1, according to the RFP notice posted on the pension system website. The initial contract will be for one year, with the option up to four one-year renewals.
The details for the private equity/debt consultant are the same in terms of the application deadline, interviews, contract award timing, contract length and renewals.
