Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, Columbus, hired BlackRock as the target-date fund provider for the OPERS Member-Directed Plan, spokesman Michael Pramik confirmed in an email.
The retirement system issued a request for information for target-date fund providers in January 2020 after an internal audit recommended the staff consider potentially outsourcing the $1.9 billion 401(a) plan's lineup to an off-the-shelf product.
The other finalist was J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
The new lineup is expected to be implemented at the end of the first quarter of 2022, according to May 19 board meeting materials.
The target-date fund lineup currently utilizes BlackRock index funds for its target-date fund lineup, and investment consultant NEPC is responsible for setting and recommending the asset allocation of each target-date fund. The glidepath is currently approved annually by the board.
The recommendation to move to an off-the-shelf product was made in an effort to "reduce OPERS operational risk, potentially improve performance and to allow staff to research external providers in this space," the board meeting materials said.
The current target-date fund lineup had $1.2 billion in assets in the plan as of March 31.
