Pension Administration Benchmarking

Trade Agreement: CETA / WTO-AGP / CPTPP / NAFTA / CFTA / FTAs with Peru / Colombia / Panama / Korea
Tendering Procedures: Suppliers on permanent list or able to meet qualification requirements
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
CEM Benchmarking Inc.
372 Bay Street
Suite 1000
Toronto Ontario
Canada
M5H2W9
Nature of Requirements: 

1. Advanced Contract Award Notice

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.


2. Definition of the requirement

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), through the Pension Excellence Sector (PES) requires benchmarking services to capture performance measures relevant to the pension administration processes of the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP), associated systems and organization structure. These performance measures are required to make better business decisions relating to pension administration service improvements.  The work will involve the following:

Services required 

A) Benchmarking services to compare total costs and service levels against peer group;

B)  Benchmarking services to compare costs, transaction volumes and plan complexity for major pension administrative activities, including the following;

1) Issuance of First Payment and recurring payments, pension         inceptions;
2) Collection of and Record of Contributions and other data;
3) Termination of Payment, transfer out or Refunds;
4) Elections for Prior Services;
5) Mass Communications to members and retirees;
6) Pension Benefit Entitlement Estimate;
7) Pension Transfers-in;
8) Member counselling;
9) Call Center;
10) Major Projects;
11) Employer costs; and
12) Financial control and Governance
13) Information Technology (excl. major projects)
14) Support Services and Other
15) Plan design and rules development
16) Disability (if provided by the plan)

C) Narrative summaries consisting of:
1) An executive summary for the highlights of the survey results;         and
2) A comparison of Total Administration Costs, Activity Costs,         Service Levels, Transactional Volumes and Plan Complexity to a         peer group and the overall participants.

D) Benchmark against Comparative Companies:

The overall participants in the benchmarking survey must comprise a minimum of twenty (20) publicly financed Canadian and International organizations. The benchmarking peer groups for comparison will embody a minimum mixture of ten (10) publicly financed Canadian and International pension plans. The survey report will compare PSPP against its all participants’ pension administration activities as outlined in A) against its benchmarking peers for Total Administration Cost, Activity Costs, Service Levels, Transactional Volumes and Plan Complexity.

E) Data Collection Methodology: 
1) Provide PWGSC with detailed electronic surveys (spreadsheets)         for compiling the data of PSPP plan to send to contractor; 
2) Verify that the data PWGSC has submitted for PSPP pension plan         meets the requirements of the benchmarking survey and is         correctly allocated within the survey; 
3) Provide feedback to PWGSC on the quality of the data supplied         for PSPP pension plan to contractor in order to enable PWGSC to         amend or adjust the placement of data into appropriate areas of         the survey; and
4) Obtain from PWGSC the material and data for PSPP pension plan to         conduct one annual supplementary survey.

Detail Tasks

The PWGSC pension services benchmarking process will consist of five (5) distinct phases, which are to occur on an annual cycle as follows:

A) Survey  

1) Provide all survey materials (the general survey questionnaires,      cost attribution spreadsheets, activity definitions, output data         reports, survey explanations), meeting arrangements, and dates         in a timely manner;
2) Meet with PES and Pension Centre representatives to review         survey questions of input material, and explain changes (where         applicable) to the methodology for data collection and input,         and the significance of the various portions of information to         be supplied;
3) Provide the format of the reporting tools, which must be clearly         laid out and easily understood by PWGSC representatives;
4) Provide clear, concise written and timely communication of         information to PWGSC concerning survey information needed,         scheduled meetings, data etc. 

B) Report
 
1) Prepare a draft benchmarking Report.

2) Provide PWGSC with teleconferencing (if needed) to review the         data supplied for the annual benchmarking survey report to         verify the accuracy of cost and narrative data, and correct any         apparent anomalies in the data submitted to the Contractor.

3) Provide an annual benchmarking survey report for capturing a         comparison of PWGSC data to its respective peer group and         universe in the following areas:

i.Total Administration Cost
ii.Activity Costs
iii.Service levels
iv.Transactional volumes
v.Plan complexity
vi.CRM Capability

4) The survey report for PSPP must include:

i.A summary of key cost and service issues by this organization,         refined to reflect work process information and other           comparative data highlights

ii.Consolidated cost tables and charts displaying costs for all          member organizations and the average costs of each program           activity (direct and support inclusive) for all member           organizations

iii.Background context information (statistical drivers,           organizational drivers and e-business services)

iv.Work process highlights with Service Response Measurement           charts displaying service standards for that organization           (Target and Actual)

v.A generic PSSA vs. existing benchmarking report group           benchmarking survey report, respecting the confidentiality of           all participants, while providing benchmarking results that           can be shared with the broader spectrum of PWGSC senior           management.

5) Comparisons incorporating the following criteria:

i.Costs broken down for all participants
ii.Average cost per program for each participant
iii.Cost per transaction per program in each organization
iv.Number of Full Time Employees, direct and support, devoted to         each program for each participating organization
v.Average cost for all participating organizations for each of           these specific activities

6) Provide PWGSC with electronic file and five (5) hardcopies of         the final benchmarking report.

7) Provide one on site presentation for PSPP of the final         benchmarking results at a time convenient to PWGSC. 

8) Prepare Agenda for the annual conferences, detailed in section        C) below. 

C) Annual Global Conference 

1)Facilitate an annual global conference and provide PWGSC three         invitations for PSPP.
2)Provide PWGSC a synopsis of notes collected in the breakout      sessions after the conference.
3)The registration fees for this conference are included in the      overall price of this service.  However, all travel related      expenses (including hotel and airfare) are the responsibility of      PWGSC.

D) Annual Best Practice Research:

1)The type and scope of services to be examined.
2)The services evaluation report outlining best practices and         specific examples of the same as practiced by surveyed members.
3)Any pension administration research conducted and published in the     year that PWGSC participate in contractor’s service.

PWGSC will provide:

1)The data, information, and materials that the contractor              requires to conduct this supplementary evaluation service

E)  Peer Online Network 

The Contractor must provide PWGSC with the access to Contractor’s online peer network in the year that PWGSC participates in Contractor’s service. 

Deliverables and Timelines

The PWGSC PSPP benchmarking process will occur on an annual cycle and the contractor must produce for PSPP respectively the deliverables as follows:


1. Phase I - Survey
The Contractor must produce survey templates (electronic      spreadsheets and any other pertinent electronic documents) to be      completed and compiled for the benchmarking survey annually. The      Survey and related spreadsheets must be sent to PWGSC by Mid July.

2. Phase II - Report
The contractor must:
1) Produce draft benchmarking report (PSPP) by February; and
2) Provide electronic files of the final Benchmarking Report to             PWGSC for PSSA within two (2) to three (3) weeks of delivery of          the draft benchmarking report.

3. Phase III - Supplementary Survey
The Contractor must:
1) Produce survey templates to be completed and compiled for the          Supplementary Survey Report ; 
2) Provide the survey templates to PWGSC;
3) Compile information and publish and discuss the Supplementary         Survey Report at the annual conference; and
4) Publish and send the reports to PWGSC after the conference

4. Phase IV - Conferences
The Contractor must:
1) Facilitate an annual conference of all member organizations for       PSPP peer groups; 
2) Provide an annual conference agenda and conference package for        PWGSC delegates and,
3) Send PWGSC the summary of breakout sessions after the                 conference.

5. Phase V - Manage mentor Board presentation of the benchmarking        results at the convenience of PWGSC after the final report is      published.


3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:

- The supplier must have conducted at least two (2) benchmarking projects for the public sector related to pension administration in the last five (5) years;
- The member organizations for comparison in the benchmarking projects above must include a minimum mixture of twenty (20) Canadian and International organizations;
- The supplier must have a database that includes pension information from the twenty (20) Canadian and International organizations identified above for comparison;
- The supplier must have a peer network for their members to share information related to pension administration
- The proposed project manager must have experience managing and leading two (2) pension benchmarking projects in the last five (years); and
- The supplier must have a documented methodology to collect and benchmark the pension service level and the administration costs


4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s): 
- Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
- World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
- North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
- Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)


5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

The pre-identified supplier has benchmarked the operations of defined benefit plans since 1992.  Over the last twenty years they have developed highly specialized expertise and processes for benchmarking pension funds.  In addition, they have developed a proprietary database for capturing and analyzing benefit administration data, which meets the needs of PWGSC.


6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6 (d) "only one person is capable of performing the contract"


7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:

7.1 Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) Article 513 1. b)
if the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons: 

(iii) due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;"

7.2 World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) Article XIII 1 b. 
"where the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons:

iii) due to an absence of competition for technical reasons"

7.3 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Article 1016 2. b): "where, for works of art, or for reasons connected with the protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights, or proprietary information or where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons, the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists;"

7.4 Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Article: 19.12 b.:
 
"if the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons:

3.   due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;"


8. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.


9. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date

The proposed contract is for a period of three years, from July 1, 2019 until June 30, 2022 with three additional one-year option periods.


10. Cost estimate of the proposed contract

$355,950.00


11. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier

Cost Effectiveness Measurements Benchmarking Inc. (CEM)
372 Bay Street, Suite 1000
Toronto, Ontario 
M5H 2W9
Canada 


12. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.


13. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is May 23, 2019 at 2PM EDT.


14. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to: 

Alain Papineau
Supply Specialist, Acquisitions Branch
Public Services and Procurement Canada
Telephone:  613-858-8997
E-mail: alain.papineau@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca


Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.