RFQ.pdf

CONTROLLED

Federal Housing Finance Agency Constitution Center 400 7th Street, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20219

Telephone: (202) 649-3800 Facsimile: (202) 649-1071 www.fhfa.gov

DATE: JANUARY 3, 2022

TO: PROSPECTIVE VENDORS

SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (RFQ) – FHF-22-Q-0024

PROJECT: SUPERVISORY CAPITAL STRESS TEST PROGRAM SERVICES

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation and request for quotes (RFQ) for commercial items in accordance with the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR part 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures, with FAR part 12 taking precedence per FAR 13.500(b)’s reference to FAR 12.102(c). This announcement constitutes the only solicitation with quotes requested.

This requirement is considered unrestricted under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services – with a standard size of $16.5M.

FHFA requires Vendor services to support its supervisory capital stress testing program. The Quoter would provide expertise, analysis, worked examples, and advisory services to FHFA on all aspects of the design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of a supervisory capital stress test model for the Enterprises. Quoter assistance would include but is not limited to the (i) design of the supervisory capital stress test model specification and stress test scenarios to ensure validity, rigor, and consistency across a macroeconomic framework; (ii) creation of an implementation plan for the capital stress test model; and (iii) organization and staffing needs to support model operation, enhancements, maintenance, and on-going operations.

The anticipated period of performance is for one (1) 12-month base period from the date of purchase order award with four (4), 12-month option periods, if exercised.

While not guaranteed, award is anticipated by March 1, 2022. The period of performance is anticipated to be:

Base Year 7 March 2022 – 6 March 2023 Option Year One (1) 7 March 2023 – 6 March 2024 Option Year Two (2) 7 March 2024 – 6 March 2025 Option Year Three (3) 7 March 2025 – 6 March 2026 Option Year Four (4) 7 March 2026 – 6 March 2027

Attachment A addresses the work requirements as a Statement of Work for the required services.

Questions, Suggested Alternate Terms, and Answers

Quoters are invited to submit any questions or suggested alternate terms (including changes to the solicitation, contract clauses, statement of assumptions, or other terms). FHFA will consider all input and attempt to balance the needs of all parties.

The Contracting Officer is the sole point of contact for this procurement. Questions regarding the solicitation or other concerns are to be submitted electronically to the Contracting Officer via e-mail to Jennifer.Sellers@fhfa.gov. Questions are to be submitted no later than 1:00 PM Eastern Time on January 7, 2022. Vendors are requested to use the question format included as Attachment D to this solicitation.

FAR References Any FAR clauses or provisions referenced may be obtained at www.acquisition.gov/far. Also, any reference to offeror or offer has the same meaning as quoter or quote for this solicitation.

The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 2022-01, December 6, 2021.

Submission Instructions Quoters shall be registered in the System for Award Management as stated in FAR 52.204- 7(b)(1).

Therefore, FAR 52.204-7 and FAR 52.204-16 are hereby incorporated by reference into the solicitation.

A Quoter that is not actively registered in the System for Award Management at the time of quote submission will not have its quote considered and will not be eligible for award.

This is a multi-step submission process with an advisory down-select.

1) Step 1 – Corporate Experience Submission (Evaluation Factor 1)

The offeror shall, in no more than three (3) pages, provide sufficient information for the Government to determine its level of confidence in the ability of the offeror to perform the requirements of the RFQ based on an assessment of relevant experience. The offeror shall provide a summary of the offeror’s overall corporate experience performing relevant work. In particular, the offeror’s corporate experience should address relevant experience of the firm regarding the:

• Design of financial stress test scenarios,

• Design and implementation of comprehensive financial stress testing approaches or technologies, and

• Management of financial stress testing apparatus, including model enhancements, model maintenance, and on-going operations.

Corporate experience may include work performed by the firm as well as relevant work performed by the firm’s proposed personnel that was performed while at another firm.

mailto:Jennifer.Sellers@fhfa.gov http://www.acquisition.gov/far

All quotations must include a cover page (which is not included in the 3-page limitation established for the Corporate Experience submission) with the following information:

1. RFQ Number

2. Quoter’s Name

3. Subcontractor Name(s), If Applicable

4. Quoter Tax Identification Number (TIN)

5. Quoter Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS)

6. Contact Name

7. Contact Email address

8. Contact telephone number

9. Complete business mailing address

10. The following statement “The Quoter takes no exception and completely accepts all the terms and conditions in the RFQ and subsequent amendments.”

Step 1 quotation submissions are due no later than 11:00AM Eastern Time, on January 21, 2022. Late submissions, modifications, and revisions will be managed in accordance with FAR 52.212-1(f).

Each Vendor shall submit an electronic quotation to Jennifer.Sellers@fhfa.gov.

Each email quotation including attachments cannot exceed 50 MB because it may be rejected by FHFA’s server. If your entire proposal exceeds 50MB in size, please divide your quotation into appropriate smaller emails. ONLY CORPORATE EXPERIENCE SHOULD BE DISCUSSED IN THIS SUBMISSION! Information regarding other factors will make it difficult for the Government to evaluate its confidence in your Corporate Experience.

If a Quoter chooses to submit a quotation, the quote must remain valid for a minimum of 120 calendar days.

The (3) three-page limitation shall be treated as a maximum. If exceeded, the excess pages will not be considered in the evaluation of the quotation. The excess electronic pages will not be reviewed.

FHFA’s Contracting Officer reserves the right to reject the quotation as non-compliant if the quotation takes exception to any of the terms of the RFQ, includes assumptions, or does not conform to the RFQ’s submission instructions.

2) Step 2 – Advisory Down Select

After the Government completes evaluation of Step 1 – Corporate Experience, Quoters will receive an advisory notice. Quoters rated most highly for Factor 1 will be advised to proceed to a written technical quotation and oral presentations. However, FHFA reserves the right to invite additional quoters to proceed if the Contracting Officer determines it to be in the best interest of the Government. While we are unsure how many written technical quotations and oral presentations will be conducted, we anticipate no more than five firms will be advised to proceed. Quoters who were not among the most highly rated will be advised that they are unlikely to be viable competitors, along with the general basis for that opinion. The intent of this advice is to minimize quotation development costs for those offerors with little chance of receiving an award. However, the Government’s advice will be a recommendation only, and those offerors may elect to continue their participation in the acquisition. The Government does not intend to provide brief explanations after the completion of Step 1.

Failure to participate in Step 1 precludes further consideration of a quote. Quoter submissions will not be accepted from quoters who have not submitted Step 1 – Corporate Experience submissions by the due date and time stated in this solicitation.

3) Step 3 – Written Technical Quotation (Evaluation Factor 2)

Within ten (10) business days of the Government’s issuance of the advisory notice under Step 2, the offeror shall, in no more than ten (10) pages, provide sufficient information for the Government to determine its level of confidence in the ability of the offeror to perform the requirements of the RFQ, including the requirements of the Statement of Work, based on an assessment of its written technical quotation. The offeror shall provide a summary of its understanding of the overall design of the supervisory capital stress test model, including the specification of major components and required functionality. The offeror’s written technical proposal shall reflect details on the (i) design of the supervisory capital stress test specification and stress test scenarios to ensure validity, rigor, and consistency across a macroeconomic framework; (ii) creation of an implementation plan for the capital stress test model; and (iii) organization and staffing needs to support model enhancements, model maintenance, and on-going operations.

4) Oral Presentation Down Select

Within two (2) business days of the Government’s issuance of the advisory notice under Step 2, quoters wishing to participate in oral presentations shall provide to the Contracting Officer via email at Jennifer.Sellers@fhfa.gov, the names of the people who will attend the presentation, their current employers, their intended roles on the contract, and whether they are proposed as key personnel.

Upon the timely submission of the information above and the written technical quotation, the Contracting Officer will provide the following:

• An assigned date and time of oral presentations: this date will be approximately one (1) week from receipt of the offeror’s technical quotation. The presentations will take place via video-teleconference (VTC).

• A set of instructions on how to access FHFA’s VTC system and instructions to coordinate a time with FHFA for the offeror to test-run the system prior to the presentation.

• A due date for the price quotation, key personnel resumes, and oral presentation slides.

This due date will be at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the scheduled oral presentation.

5) Step 4 – Submission of Price Quotation, Key Personnel Resume, and Oral Presentation Slides

Prior to oral presentations, by the due date provided in Step 3, the quoter shall submit the following:

Price Quotation Instructions

a) The quoter shall provide a table of all labor categories and fully burdened rates applicable to Attachment A - Statement of Work.

b) Labor-hour price quotation with pricing breakdown (labor categories proposed, hours per each labor category, and labor rates). The labor categories and number of hours quoted shall be used solely for evaluation purposes; the government will consider whether the quoted labor categories and number of hours are appropriate and sufficient to satisfactorily perform the task.

The sample pricing worksheet (Attachment C) may be used as a template for the price quotation.

Key Personnel Instructions

a) The quoter shall propose key personnel that demonstrate the level and depth of professional expertise, certifications, and experience necessary to successfully accomplish the requirements found in Attachment A – Statement of Work. At a minimum, the quoter shall provide a brief narrative that defines the key personnel’s role during performance. Each resume is limited to 2 pages and must address the key personnel’s degree(s), certification(s), and years of relevant experience.

By submitting a quotation, each quoter certifies to the following statement: “I certify that each individual identified as key personnel is available for performance. If an individual identified as key personnel is not currently employed by my firm or a proposed subcontractor, the individual has signed a written commitment to perform if my quote receives an award.”

Oral Presentation Slides

Offerors must submit presentation slides containing the substantive aspects of their presentation.

There is no limit on the number of slides that an offeror may use. However, when reviewing and evaluating the oral presentations, FHFA will not evaluate any slide that was not projected and fully addressed during the presentation. The production and use of an excessive number, overly elaborate, or small font slides may result in them not being considered in the evaluation process.

5) Step 5 – Oral Presentations (Evaluation Factor 3)

The quoter’s attendees at the oral presentation may include up to five (5) persons. The Government desires that the attendees include persons designated as key personnel.

The Government intends for the oral presentation to proceed as follows:

FORTY-FIVE (45) MINUTES. The quoter will provide its prepared presentation to address its technical approach and key personnel qualifications. Specifically, the Quoter should describe how it will oversee the integration and coordination of multiple tasks simultaneously to ensure high productivity, efficiency, and quality work. And, the quoter must address its procedures for quality control, client management, and communications, including how the Quoter shall manage its relationship with FHFA, and the resources it provides to FHFA. Finally, the Quoter should describe its staffing approach to manage the task order requirements and personnel and clearly depict the lines of program authority and oversight over the various tasks.

At a minimum, the offeror’s oral presentation should address the following elements:

• Explain why the key personnel proposed for the requirement are best suited to fulfill their roles, and provide detailed background as to the skillset of other personnel resources,

• Provide an overview of how the offeror plans to fulfill the requirements, and

• Present an overview of the technical aspects of the: (i) overall design, (ii) specification, and (iii) implementation plan for the capital stress test model and stress scenarios the offeror envisions for the Enterprises.

Quoters may not record their presentations using audio or videotape or any other method/medium.

FHFA will not discuss any quote attribute that either increases or decreases FHFA’s confidence in the provided quote and will not conduct negotiations or discussions during the oral presentation. Statements made by the quoter or FHFA during the oral presentation will not become a part of any agreement or contract resulting from this solicitation unless FHFA and the quoter agree in writing to make it a part of the contract.

Evaluation and Selection Process

Since this award is made under the policies of FAR part 12 in conjunction with FAR part 13 procedures, the evaluation process is streamlined, and FHFA has considerable flexibility in its award decision. FHFA will evaluate the quotation considering positive attributes, negative attributes, and potential risk of the overall quotation.

During the evaluation process, FHFA may or may not conduct exchanges. If FHFA conducts exchanges, such exchanges may be with one, several, or all Quoters. Exchanges may vary based on FHFA’s need to understand or give Quoters an opportunity to improve their quotations, but all exchanges will be fair and equitable.

Basis of Award

The Government shall evaluate each quotation against the following factors:

Factor 1: Corporate Experience Submission Factor 2: Written Technical Approach Factor 3: Oral Presentation (Technical Approach and Key Personnel) Factor 4: Price

Factors 1, 2, and 3 are referred to as technical factors. Factor 1 is less important than Factors 2 and 3. The technical factors (when combined) are significantly more important than Factor 4, Price. However, where quotations are evaluated as relatively equal in technical merit, price becomes more important in making the award determination. Award may be made to other than the lowest priced quotation if the Government determines that a price premium is warranted due to technical merit. The Government may also award to other than the highest technically rated quotation, if the Government determines that a price premium is not warranted.

After the Government identifies the apparent successful quoter using the procedures specified above, the Contracting Officer may request from the apparent successful quoter a Small Business Subcontracting Plan. If the Government finds this plan unacceptable, the Government may request these plans from other quoters. This request does not constitute discussions (as that term is defined in FAR subpart 15.3).

Price

The Government will evaluate the total proposed price and the labor categories for reasonableness. FHFA reserves the right to conduct a price realism analysis to assess whether the proposed prices are unrealistically low. Unrealistically low prices may be considered a negative attribute to the extent that they reflect a lack of technical understanding or a risk inherent in the proposed approach.

Rating System for Factors 1, 2, and 3

The tables below show the ratings the Government will assign in its evaluation of quotes when evaluating Factors 1, 2, and 3. The Government will consider the quoter’s approaches and the risks associated with those approaches to arrive at a confidence assessment of the quoter’s likelihood of successfully performing the work and meeting FHFA’s objectives.

Factor 1 Confidence Ratings

High Confidence The Government has high confidence that the offeror has the ability to perform the requirements and will be successful in performing the work.

Confident The Government is confident that the offeror has the ability to perform the requirements and will be successful in performing the work.

Some Confidence The Government has some confidence that the offeror has the ability to perform the requirements and will be successful in performing the work.

Low Confidence The Government has low confidence that the offeror has the ability to perform the requirements or will be successful in performing the work.

Factors 2 and 3 Confidence Ratings

High Confidence The Government has high confidence that the offeror understands the requirements, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the work.

Confident The Government is confident that the offeror understands the requirements, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the work.

Some Confidence The Government has some confidence that the offeror understands the requirements, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the work.

Low Confidence The Government has low confidence that the offeror understands the requirements, proposes a sound approach, or will be successful in performing the work.

Small Business Subcontracting Plan

The Contracting Officer will review the submitted subcontracting plan for compliance with FAR 19.702, FAR 19.704, FAR 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns, and FAR 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan. The plan will be reviewed as part of the Contracting Officer’s responsibility determination. If the Contracting Officer determines that the subcontracting plan is unacceptable, the quoter will not be considered for award.

IT Security Compliance

Prior to award of the contract, the apparent successful quoter shall complete and submit the “Security Assessment Questionnaire for External Vendors and Systems” (see Attachment D) as part of demonstrating its ability to meet the requirements of FHFA specialty clause, IT Security clause for acquisitions in which FHFA Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) will be processed, stored, or transmitted in a nonfederal information system (JUN 2020) (see FHFA Specialty Clause 6.208b). In addition to the Questionnaire, the Quoter shall submit any current, independent certification demonstrating that the Quoter maintains compliance with a relevant information security framework (i.e., NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001).

As part of its assessment, FHFA may request additional artifacts such as the results of independent penetration tests or security assessments, internal security policies, and other artifacts as deemed necessary to verify compliance with NIST SP 800-171, Rev. 2. If the Quoter fails to provide reasonable assurance of its ability to comply with the requirements of the clause, it will no longer be considered eligible for award of the contract. The request for the information described above does not constitute discussions (as that term is defined in FAR subpart 15.3).

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

Attachment A Statement of Work Attachment B FAR and FHFA Specialty Clauses Attachment C Sample Price Quotation Worksheet Attachment D Question and Answer Template