The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board is looking for advisory and managed account service providers for its hedge fund portfolio.
On the advisory side, the successful firm will be expected to assist with and provide manager sourcing, investment and operational due diligence, risk analysis, portfolio construction, legal support, monitoring and performance reporting.
Minimum criteria include having provided hedge fund advisory services for at least three years, acting as a fiduciary for at least one institutional client and having access to or maintaining a hedge fund database.
Strong preference will be given to proposals that have strength in “a broad spectrum of unconstrained investing strategies”, while FoHF proposals will be rejected, according the RFP guidance released on 7 January.
On the managed account platform services side, the successful bidder will be expected to identify and negotiate with prime brokers and administrators, conduct ODD on potential and existing managers, negotiate IMAs, provide risk, transparency and compliance monitoring reporting, among other things.
Bidders for that mandate must provide hedge fund managed account services to existing clients with aggregate assets of at least $2bn and have a minimum of three years’ experience.
Firms can submit proposals for one or both services.
MassPrim has issued the RFP because its contracts with incumbents Aberdeen Asset Management, formerly Arden, and HedgeMark are up for renewal this year, Eric Nierenberg, chief strategy office, told HFM InvestHedge in November.
MassPrim’s hedge fund assets, which total nearly $6bn, are part of a larger portfolio completion strategies programme valued at $9.6bn as of 30 June 2018.
Arden Asset Management was originally selected to provide hedge fund consulting services and following its acquisition by and name change to Aberdeen in 2015 handled the portfolio build-out.
HedgeMark was chosen due to its ‘open architecture’ platform, which allows the pension to choose hedge fund managers, service providers, fund structures, counterparties and investment guidelines.
Last year, $73.8bn MassPrim selected NewAlpha Asset Management and Innocap to oversee its emerging global macro and CTA manager programme.
RFP responses must be submitted no later than 3pm EDT on 8 February. Finalists are expected to be notified by 4 March, with evaluation and investment committee meetings slated for later that month.
The new contracts are expected to commence on 1 July.
The RFP guidance can be found here and on MassPrim’s website.
MassPrim issues HF advisory, managed account services RFP on HFM InvestHedge.