Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Norfolk County Council
Martineau Lane
NORWICH
NR12DH
Contact
Julie Ward
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKH15 - Norwich and East Norfolk
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc/aspx/Home
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Multi Provider Framework Agreement for the Provision of Stewardship Services Primarily in Support of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
Reference number
NCCT42176
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 66520000 - Pension services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Norfolk County Council (as Administering Authority for Norfolk Pension Fund), on its own behalf and on behalf of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (as Administering Authority of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund), East Sussex County Council (as Administering Authority of East Sussex Pension Fund), South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (as Administering Authority of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund), Wirral Council (as Administering Authority of the Merseyside Pension Fund), West Sussex County Council (as Administering Authority of West Sussex Pension Fund) and Wolverhampton City Council (as Administering Authority of the West Midlands Pension Fund) have let a multi-provider framework agreement for the provision of Stewardship Advisory Services primarily in support of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: Yes
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £100 / Highest offer: £150 taken into consideration
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Voting Services
Lot No
1
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 66141000 - Pension fund management services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Voting services including but not limited to:
Coverage and Policy
• Ability to provide global voting coverage
• Formalisation of a voting policy informed by client beliefs leading to an agreed voting template. Assisting in the formulation of agreed voting templates in line with client requirements
• Providing support on voting and voting related engagement issues
• Benchmarking fund manager voting intentions relative to the client's voting policy
• Supporting clients with stewardship-related compliance e.g. UNPRI, UK Stewardship Code etc.
Execution
• Delivery of voting execution and voting related engagement in line with client policies
• Advising on best practice in voting policy and execution
• Ability to align voting with engagement activities
• Ability to allow individual funds to vote differently to Pool
Reporting
• Identifying evolving voting themes which may impact upon client policies and reputation
• Key analysis and reporting of trends in voting behaviour and activity and post-vote reporting
• Supporting clients with internal and external communication with regards to stewardship policies
• Ability to meet bespoke reporting requirements
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 80
Price - Weighting: 20
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Engagement Services
Lot No
2
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 66141000 - Pension fund management services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Engagement Services including but not limited to:
Coverage and Policy
• Assisting the client to engage with investee entities across the portfolio as defined by the client
• Identifying and prioritising fund engagement activities by issue and company
• Identifying key engagement risks within client portfolios
• Identifying the optimal engagement strategy in line with the client's investment portfolio
• Identifying opportunities for clients to collaborate to secure more cost-efficient and effective engagement outcomes
• Analysing the effectiveness of active ownership policies
• Ability to provide a service tailored to different geographies and the ability to engage with companies worldwide decided on by ESG criteria
• Identifying industry developments which may impact upon client policies and reputation
Execution
• Undertaking engagement activity on behalf of clients
• Supporting the integration of engagement best practice into investment processes and decision-making
• Supporting the client in their engagement with policymakers and regulators with regard to active ownership
• Co-ordination of Collaborative initiative and Shareholder resolutions
• Ability to align engagement activities with voting
• Supporting the Scheme with defining objectives of engagements at manager or issuer level, and what plans there are for escalation should these fail
Reporting
• Provision of regular monitoring reports and analysis of engagement activities undertaken
• Analysing the effectiveness of engagement activity
• Supporting clients with stewardship-related compliance e.g. UNPRI, UK Stewardship Code etc.
• Supporting clients with internal and external communication with regards to engagement policies
• Ability to meet bespoke reporting requirements
Training
• Provision of ongoing training for clients in relation to engagement
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 80
Price - Weighting: 20
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Voting and Engagement Services
Lot No
3
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 66141000 - Pension fund management services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Voting and Engagement services including, but not limited to:
• Ability to provide full global voting coverage
• Formalisation of a voting policy informed by client beliefs leading to an agreed voting template. Assisting in the formulation of agreed voting templates in line with client requirements
• Delivery of voting execution and voting related engagement in line with client policies
• Providing support on voting and voting related engagement issues
• Identifying evolving voting themes which may impact upon client policies and reputation
• Advising on best practice in voting policy and execution
• Key analysis and reporting of trends in voting behaviour and activity and post-vote reporting
• Benchmarking fund manager voting intentions relative to the client's voting policy
• Supporting clients with stewardship-related compliance e.g. UNPRI, UK Stewardship Code etc.
• Supporting clients with internal and external communication with regards to stewardship policies
• Ability to meet bespoke reporting requirements
• Ability to align voting and engagement activities
• Ability to allow individual funds to vote differently to Pool
• Assisting the client to engage with investee entities across the portfolio as defined by the client
• Identifying and prioritising fund engagement activities by issue and company
• Identifying key engagement risks within client portfolios
• Identifying the optimal engagement strategy in line with the client's investment portfolio
• Identifying opportunities for clients to collaborate to secure more cost-efficient and effective engagement outcomes
• Undertaking engagement activity on behalf of clients.
• Supporting the integration of engagement best practice into investment processes and decision-making
• Supporting the client in their engagement with policymakers and regulators with regard to active ownership
• Provision of ongoing training for clients in relation to engagement
• Provision of regular monitoring reports and analysis of engagement activities undertaken
• Analysing the effectiveness of engagement activity
• Identifying key stewardship risks within client portfolios
• Analysing the effectiveness of active ownership policies
• Co-ordination of Collaborative initiative and Shareholder resolutions
• Ability to provide a service tailored to different geographies and the ability to engage with companies worldwide decided on by ESG criteria
• Identifying industry developments which may impact upon client policies and reputation
• Supporting the Scheme with defining objectives of engagements at manager or at issuer level, and what plans there are for escalation should these fail.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 80
Price - Weighting: 20
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Stewardship Reporting and Projects
Lot No
4
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 66141000 - Pension fund management services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Discrete pieces of specialist, stewardship-related project work including, but not limited to:
• Advice on preparing stewardship due diligence tools for specific asset classes e.g. real estate, forestry etc.
• Advice on contentious issues related to Responsible Investment
• Reviewing and helping develop stewardship policies and partnerships
• Integrating responsible investment policies into investment decision-making
• Supporting clients in their stewardship-related interactions with stakeholders
• Supporting the analysis and reporting of stewardship-related data
• Provision of research at sectoral, regional, asset class and/or investment level of environmental, social, governance and other stewardship matters in relation to current or prospective client investments
• Advice and reporting including gap-analysis in line with relevant regulatory standards and recognised external frameworks e.g. UNPRI, TCFD, UK Stewardship code, Paris Alignment, SDG alignment
• Analysing the effectiveness of active ownership policies and engagement activity
• Identifying industry developments which may impact upon client policies and reputation
• Supporting the Scheme with defining engagement beliefs and priorities
• Supporting the integration of stewardship best practice into investment processes and decision-making (in respect of both internal and external management)
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 80
Price - Weighting: 20
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
four.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2021/S 000-031400
Section five. Award of contract
Lot No
1
Title
Voting Services
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
28 March 2022
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 3
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 3
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Glass Lewis T/A GL & M UK Ltd
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Minerva Analytics Ltd
Witham
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKH3 - Essex
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Pension & Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC)
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £100 / Highest offer: £150 taken into consideration
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
NCCT42176
Lot No
2
Title
Engagement Services
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
28 March 2022
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 6
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
BMO Asset Management Ltd T/A BMO GAM (EMEA)
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Hermes Equity Ownership Services T/A EOS at Federated Hermes
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Minerva Analytics Ltd
Witham
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKH3 - Essex
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Pension & Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC)
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £100 / Highest offer: £150 taken into consideration
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
NCCT42176
Lot No
3
Title
Voting and Engagement Services
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
28 March 2022
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 5
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
BMO Asset Management Ltd T/A BMO GAM (EMEA)
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Hermes Equity Ownership Service T/A EOS at Federated Hermes
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Pensions & Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC)
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £100,000 / Highest offer: £150,000 taken into consideration
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
NCCT42176
Lot No
4
Title
Stewardship Reporting and Projects
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
28 March 2022
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 7
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Aon Solutions UK Ltd
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Minerva Analytics Ltd
Witham
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKH3 - Essex
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
MJ Hudson ESG & Sustainability T/A MJ Hudson IQ Ltd
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Pensions & Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC)
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Redington Ltd
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
The Good Economy Partnership Ltd
Bath
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKK2 - Dorset and Somerset
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £100,000 / Highest offer: £150,000 taken into consideration
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Norfolk County Council
Norwich
Country
United Kingdom