UK - EU - EU Tender Procedure - NESTseeks Sharia compliant global equity investment fund

NEST is seeking to include a passive or actively managed Sharia compliant global equity investment option as part of its optional suite of investment funds in order to fully provide for the needs of scheme members. The Fund proposed must be suitable for a defined contribution (DC) based UK pension scheme.

More details and link hereunder

20/01/2011    S13    Member states - Service contract - Contract notice - Open procedure 

• I.
• II.
• III.
• IV.
• VI.

UK-London: portfolio management services
2011/S 13-020105

CONTRACT NOTICE

Services

SECTION I: CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

I.1)NAME, ADDRESSES AND CONTACT POINT(S)

National Employment Savings Trust Corporation (NEST Corporation)
St Dunstan's House 201-211 Borough High Street
Attn: Alexandra Snow
SE1 1GZ London
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel. +44 2031171023
E-mail: alexandra.snow@nestpensions.org.uk
Fax +44 2079408574

Internet address(es)

General address of the contracting authority http://www.nestpensions.org.uk

Further information can be obtained at: As in above-mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained at: As in above-mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: As in above-mentioned contact point(s)

I.2)TYPE OF THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY AND MAIN ACTIVITY OR ACTIVITIES

Body governed by public lawEconomic and financial affairsThe contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities No

SECTION II: OBJECT OF THE CONTRACT

II.1)DESCRIPTION

II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

Enabling retirement savings programme: investment management services - Sharia compliant global equity fund.

II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

ServicesService category: No 6

II.1.3)The notice involves

A public contract

II.1.4)Information on framework agreement

II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) – a low-cost, qualifying trust based pension scheme being set up by National Employment Savings Trust Corporation (NEST Corporation), is part of a broader programme of workplace pensions reform being introduced by the UK Government.NEST will be a defined contribution trust based occupational pension scheme under section 1(1) of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 (c.48) and will be a qualifying scheme for auto-enrolment purposes under the Pensions Act 2008.NEST Corporation is currently undertaking the search and selection process for specific investment funds which will be used as a basis for its initial investment fund ranges. NEST Corporation will be the contracting party and ultimate recipient of the investment management services relating to the investment funds.The workplace pension reforms, including onset of employer duties, mean that starting from 2012 employers will have to automatically enrol all eligible jobholders, and when asked by them, any jobholder, into a pension scheme that meets or exceeds certain legal standards. The reforms will be introduced in stages from 2012 with the largest employers affected first.NEST is gearing up to launch in spring 2011 on a small scale with volunteer employers, to ensure it is ready for the onset of the anticipated higher volumes of employers and members from 2012.

Although in the initial period volumes are expected to be low, in later periods the scheme is anticipated to be one of the largest defined contribution schemes in the European Union. Further information about NEST Corporation is available on its website at http://www.nestpensions.org.uk/.

NEST Corporation have elected to use a contract notice within the Official Journal of the European Union.Please note: this is a non-mandatory contract notice. The Public Contract Regulations 2006 (Regulations) specifically excludes contracts for financial services in connection with the issue, purchase, sale or transfer of securities. Neither a reference during or after this procurement process to the Regulations or the use of language or terminology common to the Regulations shall require NEST Corporation to conduct a fully regulated procurement in accordance with the Regulations. This notice is being placed for advertising purposes only.NEST is seeking to include a passive or actively managed Sharia compliant global equity investment option as part of its optional suite of investment funds in order to fully provide for the needs of scheme members. The Fund proposed must be suitable for a defined contribution (DC) based UK pension scheme.NEST Corporation has elected to use a 2 stage process to enable the creation of a short-list of bidders who will be invited to attend a beauty parade presentation:Stage 1 – initial screening of bidders;Stage 2 – evaluation of the bidders’ tenders.The Request for Proposal (RFP) contains 2 parts: an initial screening questionnaire (Part A), followed by a more detailed set of questions (Part B).Where a bidder’s tender passes the initial screening, the remainder of the tender will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria and weightings set out in the RFP. NEST Corporation will draw up a short-list of the bidders to be invited to a beauty parade presentation based on the ranking of each bidder's tender.The evaluation criteria which will be used to assess the Beauty Parade presentations will be communicated to the short-listed bidders in advance of the Beauty Parade presentations.The deadline for submitting the completed responses is detailed in section IV.3.4.Please refer to this opportunity as investment mandate 7 – Sharia Compliant Global Equity Fund.

II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

66140000

II.1.7)Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

Yes

II.1.8)Division into lots

No

II.1.9)Variants will be accepted

II.2)QUANTITY OR SCOPE OF THE CONTRACT

II.2.1)Total quantity or scope

II.2.2)Options

II.3)DURATION OF THE CONTRACT OR TIME-LIMIT FOR COMPLETION

SECTION III: LEGAL, ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION

III.1)CONDITIONS RELATING TO THE CONTRACT

III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required

III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions regulating them

III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded

III.1.4)Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

III.2)CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION

III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met: Suppliers instructions how to express interest in this tender:1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once).

— Browse to the eSourcing Portal: https://dwp.bravosolution.co.uk and click the link to register,

— Accept the terms and conditions and click "continue",— Enter your correct business and user details,— Note the username you chose and click "save" when complete,— You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure).2. Express an interest in the tender.— Login to the portal with the username/password,— Click the "PQQs / ITTs open to all suppliers" link. (These are pre-qualification questionnaires or invitations to tender open to any registered supplier),— Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content,— Click the "express interest" button at the top of the page,— This will move the PQQ /ITT into your "my PQQs/ my ITTs" page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only),— You can now access any attachments by clicking "buyer attachments" in the "PQQ/ ITT details" box.3. Responding to the tender.— Click "my response" under "PQQ/ ITT details", you can choose to "create response" or to "decline to respond" (please give a reason if declining),— You can now use the "messages" function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification,— Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT,— There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the "submit response" button at the top of the page.If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.

III.2.2)Economic and financial capacity

III.2.3)Technical capacity

III.2.4)Reserved contracts

III.3)CONDITIONS SPECIFIC TO SERVICES CONTRACTS

III.3.1)Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession

YesCandidates must be registered under the terms of the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000, or equivalent law of an EU member state to manage assets for UK defined contribution pension funds. Proof of registration must be provided, as requested in the RFP.

III.3.2)Legal entities should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service

SECTION IV: PROCEDURE

IV.1)TYPE OF PROCEDURE

IV.1.1)Type of procedure

Open

IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

IV.2)AWARD CRITERIA

IV.2.1)Award criteria

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

IV.2.2)An electronic auction will be used

No

IV.3)ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority

IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

IV.3.4)Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

4.2.2011 - 11:00

IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up

English.

IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

IV.3.8)Conditions for opening tenders

SECTION VI: COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

VI.1)THIS IS A RECURRENT PROCUREMENT

No

VI.2)CONTRACT RELATED TO A PROJECT AND/OR PROGRAMME FINANCED BY EU FUNDS

No

VI.3)ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Contracting Authority intends to use an eTendering system in this procurement exercise and reserves the right to use a reverse auction.

VI.4)PROCEDURES FOR APPEAL

VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals

VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)DATE OF DISPATCH OF THIS NOTICE:17.1.2011

Source : http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:20105-2011:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0