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Notice Type: Synopsis

Reference Number: Request for Proposal (RFP) 16PBGC-23-Q-0041

Title: Foreign Exchange Transaction Cost Consulting Services

Anticipated NAICS Code: 522320 – Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve & Clearinghouse Activities

Anticipated Product/Service Code: R710 - SUPPORT- MANAGEMENT: FINANCIAL

Contracting Office Address: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), Procurement Department, 445 12th St NW, Washington DC 20024-2101

Point of Contact(s):

Primary: Jeff Gangi

Contracting Officer, Procurement Department

Email: gangi.jeffrey@pbgc.gov

Secondary: Mary Skaggs

Contract Specialist, Procurement Department

Email: skaggs.mary@pbgc.gov

Requirement Background Information, Purpose, and Objective:

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) established Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) as a federal corporation to encourage the growth of defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance premiums at a minimum. Defined benefit pension plans promise to pay a specified monthly benefit at retirement, commonly based on salary and years on the job.

PBGC, a wholly owned United States Government corporation, administers the insurance program and termination process for most private-sector defined benefit pension plans that are tax-qualified under the Internal Revenue Code. PBGC is headed by a Director who reports to a board of directors consisting of the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Treasury, with the Secretary of Labor as Chairman. General tax revenues do not fund PBGC. PBGC collects insurance premiums from employers that sponsor insured pension plans, earns money from investments and receives the assets of the pension plans it terminates. PBGC manages all these assets under an investment policy approved by the Board of Directors. PBGC’s funds are separated into two funds: a Revolving Fund which holds the premiums received and a Trust Fund which holds the assets of terminated plans.

PBGC maintains two separate investment funds. The Revolving Fund (valued at approximately $46.4 billion as of September 30, 2022) receives all premium payments and is invested solely in “book-entry” U.S. Government securities held at the U.S. Treasury.

The Trust Fund (valued at approximately $65.2 billion as of September 30, 2022) receives assets from terminated plans. Trust Fund assets can be more flexibly invested than Revolving Fund assets such that possible asset classes include domestic and international equities and domestic and international debt obligations. In addition, the Trust Fund holds other assets such as insurance contracts from terminated plans and illiquid assets received from settlement of employer liability claims.

Currently, PBGC employs thirteen investment advisors to manage domestic and international equity portfolios and sixteen investment managers to manage domestic and international fixed income assets, with certain of these managers overseeing equity and fixed income mandates. In the quarter ending March 31, 2022, we had 29 funds that traded FX with approximately 10,700 transactions during the quarter.

The purpose of this Synopsis/Pre-Solicitation is to notify potential Offerors that PBGC intends to solicit proposals via a Request for Quote to select a single contractor to provide foreign exchange transaction cost consulting services to analyze and evaluate PBGC’s foreign exchange transactions. Contractors providing foreign exchange transaction cost analysis shall have a minimum of 5 years’ experience analyzing foreign transaction costs and shall have a minimum of 15 clients who utilize the Contractor’s foreign transaction cost analysis services. The successful Offeror shall provide detailed quarterly reports consisting of executive summary of total costs, highest cost managers, highest cost trades, issues to address, market commentary, trade costs by manager, trade volume by manager, highest and lowest cost trades by manager, costs by currency pair, currency rankings (by costs and by volume, separately), and appropriate peer and universe comparisons (with all costs shown in U.S. dollars and basis points). In addition, quarterly reports will contain detailed reporting of custodian executed trades that includes trade cost by custodian, trade volume by custodian, highest and lowest trades by custodian, costs by currency pair, currency rankings (by costs and by volume, separately), appropriate peer and universe comparisons (with all costs shown in U.S. dollars and basis points. Reports will include time stamped data and be derived using an industry recognized data analysis methodology.

In addition to the quarterly reporting requirements mentioned above, the successful Offeror shall also provide expert FX t-Cost consulting services to support the quarterly reports as well as provide recommendations on ways to reduce FX transaction costs in addition to commentary on FX market developments. The contractor may also be asked to join conference calls with PBGC investment managers and/or custodians to explain the results of their t-cost analysis no more than four (4) times per year.

PBGC currently has a contract in place for Foreign Exchange Transaction Cost (FX t-cost) Consulting Services. FX t-cost consulting is an ongoing requirement and therefore, the existing requirement is being recompeted.

The anticipated period of performance is one (1) one-year base period and four (4) twelve-month option periods.

Request for Quote (RFQ) Release Information:

This is a Synopsis/Pre-solicitation notice. Please note that this is not a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) anticipates issuing a solicitation (Request for Proposals (RFP) on or about March 27,2023. The RFQ is anticipated to be issued via full and open competition under NAICS Code: 522320 – Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, & Clearinghouse Activities. The government anticipates awarding a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract.

PBGC will issue the solicitation and its amendments on the System for Award Management (SAM) website at https://sam.gov. All responsible sources may submit a proposal in response to the RFP and attachments. Responsible sources must be registered in the System for Awards Management (SAM) database located at https://www.sam.gov at the time an offer is submitted in accordance with FAR Subpart 4.1102: “Policy” to be eligible for an award.

Prospective Offerors are advised that this procurement is subject to internal PBGC approvals and the availability of funds. This synopsis/pre-solicitation notice is NOT a Request for Quote (RFQ) and in no way obligates the Government to issue an RFQ and/or award a contract. This notice satisfies the synopsis requirement in FAR 5.2. If a solicitation is issued, all necessary information will be supplied at the time it is posted at https://sam.gov. Questions/requests for information will not be responded to until RFP issuance. Interested parties are responsible for monitoring SAM for the most up-to-date information concerning the forthcoming solicitation. Paper copies of the solicitation and its amendments will not be distributed.

Attachments/Links: None

Contact Information

Contracting Office Address

445 12th St NW, Washington DC 20024-2101

Primary Point of Contact

• Jeff Gangi


• Gangi.jeffrey@pbgc.gov

Secondary Point of Contact

• Mary Skaggs


• Skaggs.Mary@pbgc.gov

Attachments/Links