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JEFFREY R. SMITH, CPA, CGFO, CGMA Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller Finance Department 1801 27t1 Street Vero Beach, FL 32960 Telephone: (772) 226-1945 TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Diane Bernardo, Finance Director THRU: Jeffrey R. Smith, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller DATE: May 2, 2017 SUBJECT: Consolidation of Deferred Compensation Plans BACKGROUND 9 Op rR co 3 1, Over the past few years, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) have been addressing the fiduciary responsibility for governments to develop policies and procedures to review deferred compensation plans. The Board of County Commissioners and each constitutional officer is a fiduciary and is expected to act in the best interest of plan participants (employees and retirees). These duties include selecting and monitoring deferred compensation providers, investments, and all associated expenses. The Clerk's office hired a consultant, AndCo, on September 26, 2016 to assist in developing procedures to meet our fiduciary duty. One of the suggestions from our consultant was to consolidate all plans (currently ICMA-RC, Nationwide and Florida League of Cities) to one deferred compensation provider and ask if the Board and each constitutional officer would like to participate in the consolidation. Consolidation to a single provider would: • take advantage of the economies of scale to reduce record keeping fees • utilize best practices for fee transparency and equalization • simplify investment lineup using open architecture and lowest net expense investment classes • offer unified, comprehensive education and communication education program across the County • streamline plan administration for County staff. A general meeting was held on October 26, 2016 and attended by staff of the Board and each constitutional officer (this group formed the RFP committee). During the October 26th meeting, parties agreed that a way to meet our fiduciary responsibility was to prepare a competitive request for proposal (RFP). The RFP outlined our goals of: • Lowering participant expenses • Enhancing the participant experience by providing participant education programs and easily accessible website and call center • Simplifying and consolidating the investment fund selection (funds will be selected by the committee after a contract has been negotiated with the plan sponsor) P122