Industry_Day_Questions_and_Answers;_8-23-19_(final_set_of_questions).pdf

Industry Day Questions and Answers (final set of questions)

Question: What reports are required and at what frequency?

Answer: Examples of required reports are:

Summary of Contributions Report (Biweekly) Excess Withdrawal Report (Monthly) Forfeiture Report (Quarterly)

Question: What are the data elements of each report?

Answer: Varies by report. Elements could include: Employee Name, Address, SRP Contribution Amount, etc.

Question: Where will the basic $80 million reside?

Answer: Funds are currently deposited into a Collateralized Institutional Bank Deposit Account (IBDA-C).

It is a deposit vehicle of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. where the deposit is both collateralized and eligible for pass-through FDIC insurance. IBDA-C is designed to provide current income while preserving capital and providing a high level of liquidity. The IBDA-C is designed to generate a return similar to that of a business savings account.

Question: Since SEC staff determines the appropriate secure investments and cannot be invested in any securities under the SEC purview we assume it is in very safe money market or Federal bonds/notes. If so, what entity will hold these assets? Is this a Trustee/Custodian requirement of the RFP?

Answer: Yes, the vendor(s) selected as the Plan’s Trustee/Custodian will need to be able to provide an investment vehicle(s) that provides a comparable level of capital preservation. This should be discussed in detail in response to an RFP. A response that contemplates a partnership or subcontract between two vendors (one to act as Trustee/Custodian and one to act as Recordkeeper) must detail the proposed arrangement.

Question: What processing will be necessary on the ~$850K in deposits every two weeks? For example, individual accounts credited?

Answer: All individual accounts must be accounted for by the Recordkeeper. The Trustee/Custodian must accept the deposits and accurately credit the total amount to the SEC’s account. Mandatory reports by both the Trustee/Custodian and the Recordkeeper must be completed.

Question: Are rollovers allowed to locations other than the TSP?

Answer: Yes, rollovers are allowed to any other qualified retirement plan.

Question: Are withdrawals only by check or EFT?

Answer: Withdrawals for transfer to the TSP must be by check, pursuant to the TSP’s procedures.

Currently, all withdrawals are by check. The Plan does not permit annuities or other similar delayed methods.

Question: What happens if an employee wants to make a third withdrawal in a year? Will the transaction be held up until the transaction cost is paid first by the employee?

Answer: The participant is responsible for the cost of the third (and subsequent) withdrawal in a calendar year. Currently, the transaction would not be held up until the cost is paid by the employee. A monthly review of all withdrawals is completed by Wells Fargo. If it is determined that a participant is over the two allowable withdrawals, the fee is then deducted from the participant’s account.

Question: How would the transaction cost for the first two withdrawals be reimbursed to us by the SEC?

Answer: These payments are currently paid through monthly invoices.

Question: There was mention of monthly meetings between the staffs. Can we presume that this would occur every month or only if there is a problem or question requiring a face-to-face discussion?

Answer: At this time, it is presumed that meetings would be held every month, at the minimum.

Meetings are held via WebEx and a face-to-face discussion is not required. Currently, the monthly meeting typically lasts about 30-mins.

Question: Are we or SEC responsible for determining the adequacy of the liquidity of the assets vs the demand?

Answer: Given the nature of the investment requirements, this should not be a concern. There should always be a sufficient amount of liquid assets to meet the demand for withdrawals.

Question: Are there any mailings of hard copy anticipated? Monthly, quarterly, or just annually?

Answer: Currently there are hard copy mailings for new employees and separating employees.

Question: Are funding confirmation emails for each deposit in an individual account or periodically?

Answer: Funding confirmation emails are provided for each deposit.

Question: Explain details of what are 'amounts forfeited by non-vested participants'.

Answer: The Recordkeeper must be able to maintain a separate accounting comprised of the forfeited amounts returned to the plan from employees who were not vested when separating from the SEC.

Question: What frequency of audits are you anticipating, by whom?

Answer: There are ongoing audits performed internally by the SEC as well as by other government agencies.

Question: Call center live operator services... is 5 days per week 11 hours per day satisfactory? Who provides the participants on-line access?

Answer: At this time, we believe 5 days per week, 11-hours per day should be satisfactory. The Recordkeeper provides participants online access to their own account information.

Question: Plan educational materials - can we presume the existing information will be available for dissemination?

Answer: Current plan educational materials were prepared by Wells Fargo IRT and may be proprietary to them.

Question: Can we provide excess deposit insurance for more than $250K per account at a premium

(TBD)?

Answer: We anticipate that the RFP will require a minimum of $250k insurance (or other level comparable to FDIC’s insurance benefit) per account. Any proposal to provide excess deposit insurance, along with any associated cost(s), should be detailed in response to the RFP.

Question: Please advise in writing what will be included in the updating draft of the SOW and solicitation.

Answer: This is still being finalized. All information provided thus far was a Draft. If there is an updated draft or a final RFP, it will be published on or about September 15th and a courtesy notification of that posting will be emailed to the entities that have expressed interest in the RFP.

Question: Lastly, please provide your plans to transfer, to the apparent winner of the contract, all historical data (and data formats) from SEC and/or Wells Fargo including account owner identification, beneficiaries, etc.

Answer: The SEC will coordinate with the awardee to determine the most appropriate and feasible methods to transfer historical data during the transition period.