Applications for Fund consultancy ‘non-responsive’

All proposals received by the NMI Retirement Fund for its vacant investment consultant position were found non-responsive, meaning they were deemed ineligible based on the criteria, conditions, and requirements set for the position.

Fund administrator Richard Villagomez said the agency also didn’t receive proposals for its actuarial consultant and external auditor positions, which have been advertised since October.

To date, these three positions remain vacant. The Fund also remains without money managers to handle its investment portfolio.

The board declined to name the four off-island applicants for investment consultant, pending notification of these non-responsive proposers.

Board chair Sixto Igisomar and Villagomez emphasized that the agency lost its important service providers in September following the enactment of the Beneficiaries Derivative Act, which allows retirees to take legal action on behalf of trusts or the Fund when the trustees who manage them refuse to bring such actions.

Last Friday, the board decided to re-announce all positions, this time giving applicants a longer time to respond. Under the previous emergency announcement, the Fund was given a shorter period of time to scout for applicants. A normal RFP announcement usually lasts 30 days.

The investment and actuarial consultant positions are expected to be re-announced in the first week of January 2012, while the board awaits guidance from the Office of the Public Auditor on how the Fund can carry out its mandated annual audit.

Villagomez said the Fund told OPA about the difficulty it is having in finding an external auditor to work on the Fund’s audit that will be part of the single audit for the CNMI government. He said OPA is working on tapping the services of an independent auditing firm that will be directly contracted by OPA.

The board earlier disclosed that every announcement made in national magazines for the investment consultant position alone costs the Fund an additional $5,000. The cost may continue to increase if RFPs will continue to yield unsatisfying results.

Besides these key positions, the Fund is also looking for two more litigation attorneys. The positions have been announced twice already, also because of the lack of applicants.