Title
Contract for General Services, Agreement No. AGR18-30a with Alliance Benefit Group Southwest, LLC, for Incorporated County of Los Alamos, New Mexico Pension Plan and Trust, Trustee and Recordkeeping Services.
Recommended Action
I move that Council approve the Contract for General Services, Agreement No. AGR18-30a with Alliance Benefit Group Southwest, LLC, in an amount not to exceed $350,000, over the entire term of the contract, including all possible extensions, plus Applicable Gross Receipts Tax, in the form attached which has been approved by the County Attorney; for the Purpose of providing Incorporated County of Los Alamos, New Mexico Pension Plan and Trust, Trustee and Recordkeeping services. I further move that Council authorize the County Manager to execute the Agreement on behalf of the County.
County Manager's Recommendation
The County Manager recommends that Council approve this Contract for General Services as requested.
Body
Basic Description of the Plan
All County employees (except those classified as casual, temporary, limited-term, or elected officials) participate in a single-employer defined contribution pension plan. The Incorporated County of Los Alamos, New Mexico Pension Plan and Trust (hereafter referred to as "the Plan") is administered under authority of the County Council, who has designated the County Manager as the Plan Administrator. The Plan was established in 1978 and is intended to provide benefits to County employees in lieu of retirement benefits provided by the Social Security Administration. The plan has approximately 783 participants, including current regular employees and former employees who have terminated or retired and who have not withdrawn their assets from the Plan.
RFP for Pension Services
On January 2, 2018, the County issued Request for Proposals No. 18-30 for Providers of Pension Services to administer the Plan, to include both Trustee and Recordkeeping Services and Investment Advisory Services. The current agreements for these services expires on June 30, 2018. The contracts for these services will be awarded separately.
The County received ten (10) proposals for Trustee/Recordkeeping services.
The Plan Administrator approved the selection of the members who comprised the RFP Evaluating Committee. Every member that participated in the selection process was a Plan participant and an active County employee. They either served on the Evaluating Committee, or they were present at the finalist presentations and provided input to the Evaluating Committee before the final selections were made.
Using the criteria established in the RFP, the response by Alliance Benefit Group Southwest, LLC was found to be the most advantageous to the County for the Trustee/Recordkeeping services.
Because Alliance Benefit Group Southwest, LLC is our current Trustee/Recordkeeper, a conversion of Plan assets to another custodian will not be required.
Alternatives
Council could choose not to approve the Agreement and staff would reissue an RFP for these services.
Fiscal and Staff Impact/Planned Item
The Fiscal Impact of this item is minimal as the costs for these pension services are paid by the Plan participants and the mutual fund company payments to the Plan (Sub-TA fees). In periodically issuing the RFP for these services, and by selecting the most advantageous offerors of services for the Plan, the County, as sponsor of the Plan, is fulfilling its’ fiduciary responsibilities.
As Alliance Benefit Group Southwest, LLC is the incumbent Trustee/Recordkeeper there will be no Staff Impact as a result of this Services Agreement.
Attachments
A. AGR18-30a Alliance Benefit Group Southwest, LLC.