Wanted: Investment Consultant

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) has launched a search for a firm to serve as the general consultant to the Investment Committee.

Other Duties

The general consultant works directly for the Investment Committee and serves as a source of investment advice. Among other duties, CalSTRS says the successful firm will be expected to provide the following:

• Oversee and advise on the total CalSTRS investment portfolio, policies and activity.
• Conduct asset/liability studies.
• Present and evaluate semi-annual reviews of investment performance.
• Conduct special project consulting for the investments staff, not to exceed 20 percent of the contract.
• Advise on CalSTRS defined contribution portfolios in the future.

Requests for proposals are being sought through a competitive process due to the pending expiration of the existing contract. Pension Consulting Alliance currently holds the General Investment Consultant contract and may rebid. The new contract will run for three years with an option of two, one-year extensions.

The final filing date for proposals is October 22, 2009. CalSTRS says that a copy of the request for proposals is available online at www.calstrs.com/rfp .

The Investment Committee of the Teachers’ Retirement Board will interview the top three firms and announce a selection at its November 6 meeting.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, with a $126.9 billion portfolio, is the second largest public pension fund in the United States. It administers retirement, disability and survivor benefits for California’s 833,000 public school educators and their families from the state’s 1,400 school districts, county offices of education and community college districts.