The Rhode Island general treasurer's office is searching for investment consultants for the $11.7 billion pooled trust defined benefit investment portfolio of Rhode Island Employees’ Retirement System, Providence.
The treasurer's office seeks a general investment consultant that will be responsible for asset allocation, public equities, public fixed income and other liquid strategies, according to an RFP issued Dec. 26.
The current general investment consultant is NEPC.
The treasurer's office also is looking for an alternative investment consultant to cover private equity and private credit; hedge funds; private infrastructure/real assets (excluding-real estate) and real estate.
The current alternative investment consultants are Cliffwater (private equity and private credit; hedge funds; private infrastructure/real assets (excluding real estate); and Meketa Investment Group (real estate)
The general investment consultant will, among other things, develop and refine investment policies, guidelines and restrictions; conduct annual asset allocation reviews with detailed return, risk and correlation forecasts; provide strategic and tactical investment guidance; offer risk management advisory services; and analyze investment manager compliance.
The alternative investment consultant will, among other things, develop comprehensive investment and commitment pacing strategies for alternative asset portfolios, encompassing private equity, private credit, hedge funds, real estate, and real assets and infrastructure; and conduct advanced research and analysis on portfolio risk, cash flow modeling and investment optimization.
While the state will select only a single vendor to serve as general investment consultant, the state may select multiple vendors to assume nonoverlapping coverage of the alternative investment consultant functions, the RFP said.
As of Sept. 30, according to the latest monthly investment report, the pension fund had $4.5 billion in global public equity assets; $2.3 billion in private equity assets; $840 million in hedge funds; $618 million in traditional U.S. fixed income; $615 million in real estate assets; $460 million in infrastructure assets; and $375 million in credit assets.
It is expected that the contracts for the consultants will feature an initial three-year term subject to subsequent optional one-year extensions thereafter.
Candidate firms must have provided at least five years as of investment consulting services to at least three defined benefit public retirement systems or comparable entities, each of which must have had at least $5 billion in assets;
Proposals are due by Feb. 3; evaluations, interviews and site visits will take place in February and March; consultant recommendation and selection will occur in March and April; and contract negotiations and execution will occur in April and May.
The State Investment Commission, chaired by the general treasurer, oversees assets for the Rhode Island Employees' Retirement System's pooled trust defined benefit investment portfolio.
A spokesperson for the treasurer's office confirmed that the current consultants will be permitted to rebid.
