A._RKSA_Minimum_Qualifications_Announcement.pdf

RKSA Minimum Qualification Solicitation Number: TIB-2017-RFP-0001 Agency: Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Office: Office of Financial Service Location: Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Solicitation Number:

TIB-2017-RFP-0001

Notice Type:

Presolicitation Synopsis:

Recordkeeping Services Acquisition (RKSA)

1. Description. This Minimum Qualification announcement notification related to the Request for Proposal, TIB-2017-RFP-0001, is issued under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 9.104-2.

2. Introduction. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) is seeking qualified contractors to support Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Recordkeeping and to provide defined contribution managed services that will operate and manage the associated people, processes, and systems required to deliver TSP retirement services as defined in the Recordkeeping Statement of Objectives (SOO). The TSP serves more than 5 million active and retired participants and beneficiaries (estimated total of 8.9 million accounts including zero balance and inactive accounts as of February 2018) and will grow significantly over the next 5 years with the creation of the Blended Retirement system which has been implemented in 2018.

3. Scope. The FRTIB is seeking qualified contractors to support TSP Recordkeeping and to provide defined contribution managed services that will operate and manage the associated people, processes, and systems required to deliver TSP retirement services as defined below.

3.1 Administrative Services. FRTIB is seeking administrative services that provide reliable and responsive transactional integrity. Objectives include:

Maintaining and updating Plan records

Processing employing agencies’ payroll data

Processing participants’ transactions

Issuing account statements to participants

Processing forfeitures, other exceptions, and error correction

3.2 Participant Services. FRTIB is seeking to provide participants and beneficiaries with personalized services that provide seamless support regardless of their preferred mode of access, e.g. web, voice, chat, social, mobile. Objectives include:

Improve retirement outcomes by providing participants and beneficiaries with superior service at the lowest reasonable cost, and to continue to apply technology, industry best practices, and economies of scale to improve service and reduce the cost per participant and to pass any savings back to the participants.

Supporting participant inquiries and processing requests through an integrated multichannel contact center

Delivering a flexible, consultative, participant-centric service that provides predictive and intentional outcomes for the participant

Regularly and proactively educating and advising participants to drive better and smarter financial decisions to achieve their targeted retirement outcomes

Managing participant interactions and enabling a seamless and personalized participant experience based on their preferred mode of access

Providing a seamless and structured management capability for escalating cases to FRTIB for issue or decisional resolution

Providing FRTIB with a transparent end-to-end view of all participant plan level operations/transactions

Achieving high participant satisfaction

Providing access to a mutual fund window

3.3 Regulatory, Accounting and Compliance Services. FRTIB is seeking services that meet the regulatory and compliance requirements of the TSP. Objectives include:

Administering legal and death case processing

Providing accounting services, including reconciliation, for participant recordkeeping and supporting agency accounting needs

Providing information necessary to reconcile recordkeeping information daily among multiple external systems, including U.S. Treasury and FRTIB Agency Accounting

Enabling rapid integration and implementation of statutory and regulatory changes and new FRTIB guidance

Providing responsive and thorough audit support

3.4 Security and Infrastructure Services. FRTIB is seeking secure services supported by a flexible and scalable infrastructure. Objectives include:

Protecting participant’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and the integrity of all transactions

Providing secure recordkeeping services

Preventing, identifying, and resolving fraud

Providing scalable and highly reliable recordkeeping services and leveraging modern technologies to improve these capabilities

Providing global recordkeeping service delivery

3.5 Program Management and Quality Services. FRTIB is seeking program management and quality services that support the achievement of reliable transition and ongoing operational services. The objectives include:

Establishing and maintaining a successful working relationship based on well-defined governance and fully transparent reporting

Monitoring and reporting performance and taking appropriate remedial action when necessary

Responding proactively to meet changing demands without service disruption

Continuously improving the delivery of services

Minimizing the number of processing errors

Providing innovative services based on state of the art industry capability

Providing business continuity for RKSA services

Providing data access for individual recordkeeping data and aggregation through predefined and ad hoc reporting

Obtain and ensure ongoing, defined contribution deferred compensation industry, market-based tiered pricing over the duration of a long-term contract period of performance by using a structured assessment process, such as an independent benchmarking study

3.6 Transition Services. FRTIB is seeking transition services that successfully meet acceptance criteria. The objectives include:

Facilitating a successful transition with a minimal blackout period while retaining the confidence and trust of participants and stakeholders

Working collaboratively with the incumbent contractors to ensure a smooth and complete transition, including knowledge transfer

Assuming full contract responsibility as a result of meeting the acceptance criteria in the contract

4. Minimum Qualification. After conducting Market Research, and further completing an Advisory Multi-Step viability assessment under FAR 15.202, the FRTIB has determined that a minimum qualification requirement must be met in order to compete for this award. The Minimum Qualification process is conducted to select qualified Potential Offerors who are able to meet FRTIB’s size and scale requirements for defined contribution / deferred compensation (DC/DC) retirement services. As of the stated date of December 31, 2017, the RKSA Potential Offeror must satisfy both of the following two minimum qualifications and the conditions in 5.3.2:

1) Have a minimum DC/DC book of business that is equal to or greater than 3,000,000 non-zero balance participant account volume and

2) Have at least three (3) DC/DC plans, each of which have non-zero balance participant account volumes greater than 100,000.

4.1 The Minimum Qualification process requires Potential Offerors to certify that they meet specific qualification requirements pertaining to its DC/DC book of business. Participation in the Minimum Qualification process is mandatory and a prerequisite for interested Potential Offerors to receive the draft and final RKSA RFP.

4.2 The FRTIB will consider all responses certified by a Potential Offeror. FRTIB may validate such information against available public sources and reports provided by Agency support vendors (see Section 8) for the purpose of determining the reasonableness of reported information. The FRTIB reserves the right to request that any Offeror provide verification information (including, but not limited to, a comprehensive list of clients with their associated DC/DC book of business participant account volume) to support any or all such reported information. FRTIB will determine whether Potential Offerors responses successfully meet the minimum qualification criteria referenced in Section 5.3. Each respondent will be notified in writing of this determination. Any Offeror who fails to successfully meet this minimum qualification, will be excluded from further participation in the resultant solicitation.

5. Submission Instructions.

5.1 References. The Minimum Qualification library supersedes all previously posted documents.

The library contains the following documents:

Draft RKSA Statement of Objectives

Draft TSP Constraints

2017 TSP Work Volumes, and

FERSA Rules.

5.2 Format for Submissions. The RKSA Minimum Qualification Package shall be submitted only by a Contractor or the Prime Contractor ("Prime" as referenced in the FAR means an arrangement in which 1) A contractor agrees with one or more other companies to have them act as its subcontractors under a specified Government contract or acquisition program, or 2) Two or more companies form a relationship where one company acts as a lead contractor), both hereafter referred to as "Potential Offeror." Potential Offerors are requested to provide the information outlined below. While FRTIB is encouraging teaming arrangements for this acquisition, subcontractors should not directly respond to this Minimum Qualification Announcement. Joint ventures are not being considered for this acquisition and should not respond to this announcement.

5.2.1 Pages shall be formatted in a standard page style as follows. A page is defined as one side of an 8 1/2" x 11", with at least 1-inch margins on all sides, using not smaller than 12 point (non-compressed) Calibri font. Smaller font sizes (no less than 8 point Calibri) are acceptable for notional graphics such as computer screen mock-ups or form/report print-outs. Foldouts count as an equivalent number of 8 1/2" x 11" pages. For example, an 11" x 17" foldout will be counted as two pages. The metric standard format most closely approximating the described standard 8 1/2" x 11" size may also be used.

5.2.2 Potential Offerors shall arrange their RKSA Minimum Qualification Package into the sections as set forth below. The Table of Contents and Table of Acronyms (or a Glossary of Abbreviations) are excluded from the page counts and will not be assessed. Information shall not be incorporated by reference. All pages shall be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals.

5.2.3 Format

5.2.3.1 Cover Sheet. A cover sheet shall be included in the RKSA Minimum Qualification Package, clearly marked with date of the package, title, Solicitation number, the Potential Offeror's name, and company point of contact (name, phone number, email address). The cover sheet shall include the following Certification Statement:

“RKSA Minimum Qualification Certification Statement

“By signing below, I certify that the non-zero balance participant account volume for [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE]’s total book of defined contribution / deferred compensation (DC/DC) business and plans stated in this response is accurate and complies with the Conditions set forth in the Minimum Qualification Notice using reasonable methods for determining such participant account volume. If it is found that [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE] falsely certified any item, then [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE] will be: 1) terminated from consideration for award, or, if awarded the contract, the contract will be terminated, and 2) may be subject to legal action.

I also certify that, [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE] has reviewed FAR Part 9.5 and its associated FAR Clauses for Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) and as of this submission, there are no known conflicts of interest related to [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE]’s participation in RKSA. It is understood that [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE] will be required to submit a comprehensive OCI Plan with their RKSA proposal.”

5.2.3.2 Minimum Qualification Declaration Page. A minimum qualification declaration page shall be included in the RKSA Minimum Qualification Package in accordance with Section 5.3.3.

5.2.3.3 Each Potential Offeror is required to submit its RKSA Minimum Qualification Package in an electronic format via email to RKSA@tsp.gov. Emails must be titled in the subject line with the following format: TIB-2018-RFP-0001 - MQ – [insert Prime Company Name here].

5.2.3.4 Electronic copies of the RKSA Minimum Qualification Package shall be compatible with Adobe Acrobat Version 11.0.23.

mailto:RKSA@tsp.gov

5.2.3.5 The RKSA Minimum Qualification Package should be submitted as a single electronic file.

The Potential Offeror shall perform an anti-virus/anti-malware scan prior to package submission. Potential Offeror shall not embed sound or video files into the package file.

5.2.3.6 Page limitations are as follows:

1) Cover sheet, 1 page

2) Minimum Qualification Declaration page, 1 page

3) Total page count: 2 pages

Information beyond that requested or beyond page limitations set forth will not be considered in the selection of vendors for participation in the solicitation process.

5.2.3.7 Costly, complex presentations are neither required nor desired at this time.

5.3 Minimum Qualification Requirements. All responses must include the information described in this section.

5.3.1 The Potential Offeror shall provide a declarative statement signed by a person, including name and title, authorized to certify that the Potential Offeror has a minimum DC/DC book of business that is equal to or greater than 3,000,000 participants and 3 DC/DC plans of at least 100,000 participants that meets the conditions in 5.3.2.

5.3.2 The minimum DC/DC book of business and plans considered therein shall meet the following conditions:

5.3.2.1 Reporting Date: DC/DC plans administered, operated, and managed under contracts with all related statistics reported as of 12/31/2017.

5.3.2.2 Book of Business Combination: Combining the book of business of more than one separate recordkeeper organization for the purpose of meeting the minimum qualification is not acceptable unless the entity was acquired by the Offeror. FRTIB is not discouraging teaming arrangements, however these arrangements should not be used for meeting the minimum qualification.

5.3.2.3 Joint Ventures: Joint ventures shall not be considered for satisfying the minimum qualification.

5.3.2.4 One-time System Integration: One-time system integration (SI) contracts where the Potential Offeror developed and implemented the recordkeeping platform without administering the ongoing plan shall not be considered for satisfying the minimum qualification.

5.3.2.5 DC/DC Only: Participant account volume shall only be for DC/DC plans. While contracts may include a mix of plans such as DC/DC and pension plans, only participants covered in DC/DC plans shall be included for the minimum qualification.

5.3.2.6 Wholesale Contracts: Contracts where the Potential Offeror was providing DC/DC recordkeeping services (e.g. wholesaler) for other recordkeepers or service providers (e.g.

retailers) who were then servicing end user clients/customers shall not be considered for satisfying the minimum qualification.

5.3.2.7 Participant account volume definitions:

a. Participant account volume shall exclude participant accounts with zero balances.

b. Participant account volume shall include the total number of accounts for a participant having more than one account with a non-zero balance.

5.3.3 Response Form

The Potential Offeror shall provide the table below in its response on the Minimum Qualification Declaration Page and complete the “Answer” column

Potential Offeror Name:

Minimum Qualification Criterion

Answer

Total DC/DC Book of Business (non-zero balance Participant Account Volume)

[insert number]

List of at least three DC/DC plans with at least 100,000 non-zero balance participant accounts and associated DC/DC participant account volume

[insert DC/DC plan name and participant account volume]

1.

2.

3.

Conditions for Book of Business and Plans

1. Comply with Section

5.3.2.1 (Reporting Date)?

Yes / No

2. Comply with Section

5.3.2.2 (Book of Business Combination)?

Yes / No

3. Comply with Section

5.3.2.3 (Joint Ventures)?

Yes / No

Potential Offeror Name:

Minimum Qualification Criterion

Answer

4. Comply with Section

5.3.2.4 (One-time System Integration)?

Yes / No

5. Comply with Section

5.3.2.5 (DC/DC Only)?

Yes / No

6. Comply with Section

5.3.2.6 (Wholesale Contracts)

Yes / No

7. Comply with Section

5.3.2.7 (Participant Account Volume Definitions)?

Yes / No

5.3.4 Information previously submitted, if any, will not be considered unless it is resubmitted as part of the Minimum Qualification process; it must not be incorporated by reference. Potential Offerors shall not assume that the selection team is aware of their company's DC/DC book of business or any other pertinent fact that is important to the accomplishment of the Minimum Qualification process.

6. Selection of Potential Offerors for participation in the solicitation process. The Government will select vendors on a pass/fail basis as outlined in Section 5.3 Minimum Qualification Requirements. Vendor lists (Minimum Qualified and Non-Minimum Qualified) shall not be posted on FBO. Vendors shall be notified on an individual basis as to their qualification status and the next steps in this procurement no later than August 31, 2018 11:59PM EST.

7. Disclaimer. This notice does not constitute a solicitation for proposals. Potential Offerors are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this notice and will not be reimbursed the by the Government.

8. Contractor Support: During the review of Minimum Qualification packages received in response to this notice, the following Contractors may be utilized:

ASI Government 1655 Ft Meyer Drive, Suite 1000 Arlington VA, 22209

CEXEC, Inc.

1900 Campus Commons Drive Reston, VA 20191

Gartner, Inc.

56 Top Gallant Road Stamford, CT 06902

NEPC, LLC

255 State Street Boston MA 02109

RVK, Inc.

One Penn Plaza, STE 2128 New York NY 10119 iSystems 9618 Larkview Ct.

Fairfax Station VA 22039

The appropriate non-disclosure forms for these Contractors have been signed and are on file with the FRTIB Contracting Officer.

9. Questions/comments regarding this Minimum Qualification notice shall cite the solicitation number and be directed to the Contracting Officer at the following email address:

RKSA@tsp.gov. Questions/comments submitted to other email addresses will not be considered. Questions/comments shall pertain solely to the Minimum Qualifications announcement document (Attachment: RKSA Minimum Qualifications Announcement.pdf) only. Questions/comments regarding other documents will not be addressed at this time.

Questions/comments shall include specific references (paragraph numbers). All questions/comments shall be submitted no later than July 6, 2018, 1:00PM EST. Responses to all questions/comments will be posted to www.FBO.gov.

10. The Minimum Qualification package shall be submitted no later than July 30, 2018, 1:00PM EST, in accordance with the instructions reflected in Section 5.