Appendix B - Written Response Packet.docx

appendix b: Written Response Packet

1801 Hermitage Boulevard, Suite 210 Tallahassee, FL 32308

When completing this Written Response Packet, the Respondent should give clear, concise, and, where appropriate, quantifiable replies to all questions. The length of the Response is at the discretion of the Respondent, however, Responses are expected to be brief and to contain full and fair disclosure of essential elements without references to an appendix or attachment, unless otherwise requested.

This packet is made available in Microsoft Word on the Board’s website for ease of completion.

Please visit: Board Reports - 529 College Savings Plans | Florida Prepaid College.

TAB 1: Invitation to Negotiate Acknowledgement

1801 Hermitage Boulevard, Suite 210 Tallahassee, FL 32308

This sheet and the accompanying negotiation documents constitute an offer from the Respondent to provide the services detailed in the solicitation under the contractual terms provided therein.

By completing this acknowledgment, I agree to abide by all conditions of this negotiation and certify that (1) I am authorized to sign this response and (2) that the offer complies with all requirements of the solicitation.

Respondent (Firm):

Contact Person:

Address:

Telephone:

E-Mail Address:

Authorized Signature:

Date:

Printed Name & Title:

Tab 2: Minimum Qualifications

Respondent:

The following represents minimum qualifications for this ITN. A mark in a field indicates an affirmative response to the statement. Any Respondent that does not satisfy the criteria herein shall be rejected.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Yes/No

Respondents must affirmatively state, in writing, that as of the Response deadline, the Respondent:

Will assign a primary actuary who is a member in good standing of the American Academy of Actuaries and ensure all actuaries performing the work meet applicable professional qualification standards and comply with Actuarial Standards of Practice and the Actuarial Code of Professional Conduct.

The Respondent’s proposed primary actuary must have at least five years of relevant experience providing actuarial services. Preference will be given to Respondents whose primary lead actuary has direct experience providing actuarial services to one or more qualified tuition programs established under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Agrees to provide the services detailed in Section 3 and satisfy all other requirements of this ITN.

Has not included Going Concern language in any of the previous three annual audit reports of the Respondent’s financial statements.

Is a legal entity authorized to conduct business in the State of Florida and in good standing in its state of incorporation.

Has no material conflict of interest involving its organization, key professionals, Board staff, or members of the Board.

Tab 3: Organizational Experience

Respondent:

Organization Overview

0. Provide a concise organization overview, including:

Legal name, year established, ownership structure, total number of employees, core service offerings, locations, and the office(s) that will serve the Board. Describe any material organization changes within the past three years (e.g., mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, leadership).

Response:

Describe the Respondent’s actuarial practice and experience with prepaid tuition, Section 529 programs or other engagements of similar size and complexity.

Response:

Identify the proposed engagement lead and all key personnel (name and titles). Provide roles, credentials, Academy membership status, years of experience, and relevant project experience.

For the lead and key personnel, identify the Section 529 prepaid tuition engagements worked on in the past five years and provide the dates, the personal role, and whether the work included valuations, plan pricing, experience studies, cash flows, and/or Board presentations. Distinguish work performed by the proposed team from work performed elsewhere in the firm.

Response:

Describe how the Respondent ensures compliance with Actuarial Standards of Practice, qualification standards, and the Actuarial Code of Professional Conduct.

Response:

Identify the responsibilities of each proposed team member for the annual valuation, quarterly updates, pricing, and Board presentation. Describe how your firm supports the client’s needs ensuring the workload demand for deliverables under this contract is performed timely, especially when there are competing client needs or staff turnover.

Response:

Describe the Respondent’s quality-control, peer-review, model-validation, and deliverable-approval procedures.

Response:

Provide at least three client references for comparable actuarial engagements, including client name, contact information, services, dates, and assigned key personnel.

Response:

Disclose proposed subcontractors and explain their roles, qualifications, and relationship to the Respondent.

Response:

Provide a summary (no longer than 2 pages) within which you summarize the key value proposition of your organization. Ensure that you identify how the organization, service model, team assigned, services offered, transparency of business/revenue model, and overall economics are designed to provide exceptional services with a market-leading standard of care and dedication befitting the Florida Prepaid College Board.

Response:

List all prepaid plan actuarial services offered by the firm. Does the firm provide any other product or service other than actuarial services? Describe any tools, dashboards, benchmarking, training, modeling enhancements, or process improvements offered at no additional cost or as separately priced options.

Response:

Regulatory Restrictions, Litigation, and Conflicts of Interest

Please state whether or not there are any past or pending regulatory restrictions, consent orders, stipulations, or litigation to which the Respondent, any subcontractor, any Related Entity of the Respondent or any subcontractor, or any of their principals, owners, directors or officers, has ever been a party that would affect its or their ability to provide the required services or which alleges any unfair, illegal or unethical business practice. If so, a detailed description of each must be provided.

Response:

Please state whether or not any officers, principals, owners, directors, and all proposed contract employees of the Respondent or any subcontractor that will provide services under this ITN have been convicted of, or have pled guilty or nolo contendere to, any felony, regardless of whether adjudication of guilt was withheld. If so, a detailed description of each incident must be included.

Response:

Please state whether or not any penalties, fines, or liquidated damages have been imposed against the Respondent, any subcontractors, or any Related Entity of the Respondent or any subcontractor, including without limitation thereto, those associated with any contract for services entered into by the Respondent, any subcontractor, or any Related Entity of the Respondent or any subcontractor, within the past five (5) years. If so, a detailed description of each such incident, including the amount of the penalty, fine, or liquidated damages imposed, must be included in the Response.

Response:

Please state whether or not the Respondent or any subcontractor has ever been involved in any litigation related to providing services offered in this Response. If so, a detailed description of each lawsuit must be provided.

Response:

Please state whether or not the Respondent or any Related Entity has ever been contacted by any regulatory body (federal, state, or industry) regarding any potentially illegal, non-compliant, unethical or improper activities involving the Respondent, any Related Entity, or any of the employees of the Respondent or any Related Entity. If so, a detailed description must be provided that indicates whether your firm or any Related Entity conducted an investigation of those matters.

Response:

Please confirm that the Respondent has not been placed on the convicted vendor list and that it will comply with the provisions of s. 287.133, F.S. Section 287.133(2)(a), F.S., which provides:

A person or affiliate who has been placed on the convicted vendor list following a conviction for a public entity crime may not submit a bid, proposal, or reply on a contract to provide any goods or services to a public entity; may not submit a bid, proposal, or reply on a contract with a public entity for the construction or repair of a public building or public work; may not submit bids, proposals, or replies on leases of real property to a public entity; may not be awarded or perform work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a contract with any public entity; and may not transact business with any public entity in excess of the threshold amount provided in s. 287.017 for CATEGORY TWO for a period of 36 months following the date of being placed on the convicted vendor list.

Response:

Please confirm that the Respondent has not been placed on the discriminatory vendor list and that it will comply with the provisions of s. 287.134(2)(a), F.S. which provides that:

An entity or affiliate who has been placed on the discriminatory vendor list may not submit a bid, proposal, or reply on a contract to provide any goods or services to a public entity; may not submit a bid, proposal, or reply on a contract with a public entity for the construction or repair of a public building or public work; may not submit bids, proposals, or replies on leases of real property to a public entity; may not be awarded or perform work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a contract with any public entity; and may not transact business with any public entity.

Response:

Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 112, F.S., Respondents must disclose with their Response the name of any officer, director, or agent who is also an employee of the State of Florida, the Board, or any State agency. Respondents must disclose the name of any state employee who owns, directly or indirectly, interest of five percent or more in the Respondent. Respondents must disclose all investment products, annuities, mutual funds, or other similar type savings plans that are marketed or sold by the Respondent or its proposed subcontractors for other states as a part of a prepaid college fund, a college savings fund, or ABLE program.

Response:

Tab 4: SCOPE OF SERVICES

Respondent:

0. Describe the proposed transition approach and timeline, including data intake, reconciliation, model conversion, knowledge transfer, and risk controls.

Identify milestones, Board inputs, parallel or independent checks against the prior model, decision points, and what you would do if source data or prior workpapers are incomplete.

Response:

Describe the methodology, software, controls, and reconciliation procedures used to review Board data and investigate anomalies. Explain how you would reconcile contract-level data, projected receipts and benefits, assets, and reported surplus for this Program.

Give an example of a material data discrepancy found on a comparable assignment. Describe how you identified it, quantified its effect, resolved it with the client, and documented the final treatment.

Response:

Describe the approach, schedule, and deliverables for the quarterly actuarial valuation reports and cash flow projections. Explain how anticipated future sales would be incorporated into the quarterly valuation and cash flow projections used to construct the LDI benchmark. Include a summary of the information which will be needed to complete the quarterly actuarial valuation reports. Specify the format and medium of transmission of data.

Response:

Describe the approach, schedule, and deliverables for the annual actuarial adequacy report including sensitivities, surplus reconciliation, experience review, assumption analysis, and cash flow projections (excluding anticipated future sales). Include a summary of the information which will be needed to complete the annual actuarial adequacy report. Specify the format and medium of transmission of data.

Response:

Describe the approach to annual plan pricing, including payment options, beneficiary age/grade ranges, adequacy testing, break-even return analysis, and illustrative pricing under alternative assumptions.

Walk through how you would price one plan type across beneficiary ages and payment options, test adequacy, determine the break-even return, and show the effect of alternative tuition inflation and investment assumptions.

Include a summary of the information which will be needed to complete the annual plan pricing. Specify the format and medium of transmission of data.

Response:

Describe the proposed approach to assumption studies. Explain how you would test actual experience against the current assumption, address limited or changing experience, and present a recommended change and its effect on liabilities, surplus, cash flows, and prices.

Explain how you determine when changes in Program design, enrollment practices, or participant behavior make aggregate historical experience less predictive and when cohort or segmented analysis is appropriate.

Explain how you would communicate a concern about a Board-approved assumption.

Include a summary of the information which will be needed to complete the assumption studies. Specify the format and medium of transmission of data.

Response:

Provide example actuarial adequacy and pricing reports, if available.

Response:

Provide a board presentation example (redacted if necessary) that explains a significant change in funded status, surplus, or assumption to a non-actuarial board.

Response:

Describe the Respondent’s availability and approach for consultation, special studies, governing-authority representation, legislation, fiscal notes, and bill analyses.

Response:

Describe data security, confidentiality, record retention, documentation, reproducibility, and transition-to-successor practices.

Response:

Identify exceptions, assumptions, dependencies, or proposed alternatives relating to the scope of services.

Response:

12) Describe the Respondent’s current or planned use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, or automated technologies in connection with the services described in this ITN. Include the tools that will process Board data, whether data may enter third-party or public models, and what additional review is performed to validate AI conclusions.

Response:

13) Provide up to two examples in which members of the proposed engagement team used actuarial analysis to support a significant policy, financial, Program-design, or other strategic decision. Describe the issue, alternatives considered, analysis performed, and how the work informed the client’s decision. Examples may be drawn from prepaid tuition or Section 529 engagements or from other actuarial engagements with comparable analytical complexity or decision-support requirements. Identify the proposed team members who participated.

Response:

Tab 5: VALUE-ADDED SERVICES

Respondent:

1. Describe any additional analyses or capabilities offered beyond the required scope that would improve the Board’s understanding of actuarial adequacy, plan pricing, projected cash flows, or emerging risks. Examples may include combined stress scenarios, analysis of changes in participant behavior, comparisons of pricing alternatives, or enhanced support for asset-liability analysis. Explain the decisions each proposed service would help the Board make.

Response:

2) Describe any additional monitoring or reporting you propose to identify emerging experience trends or risks between scheduled actuarial reports. Explain the measures monitored, proposed reporting frequency, how potential concerns would be identified, and how findings would be communicated to Board staff.

Response:

3) Describe any additional training, documentation, or analytical tools offered to help Board staff understand, independently review, and explain actuarial results. Address how staff would access and use these resources and whether their continued use depends on proprietary software or an ongoing relationship with the Respondent.

Response:

4) Identify any other value-added services, not provided above, that would provide benefit to this Program.

Response:

5) Provide up to two examples, if available, of comparable value-add services successfully implemented for other clients. Describe the problem addressed, the Respondent’s role, implementation requirements, and results achieved. Identify whether the proposed engagement team participated in the work and whether a redacted example is available.

Response:

Tab 6: PRICING SCHEDULE

Respondent:

0. Respondents shall provide complete pricing for all actuarial services. Prices must include all labor, tools, overhead, travel, and other costs unless specifically identified as separately reimbursable. State all assumptions and optional services.

Core Services, (Contract, Exhibit B, items 1 – 14) (Lump Sum):

Additional Services (Contract, Exhibit B, item 15) (Per Deliverable):

Additional Services (Contract, Exhibit B, items 16 – 19) (Hourly Rate):

5) Value-Added Services (Contract, Exhibit B, item 20) (Per Service):

* Optional renewal periods