Overview

San Mateo County Employees’ Retirement Association (“SamCERA”), a public pension system, administers a defined benefit pension plan with Fund assets of approximately $6.8 billion. SamCERA’s Board of Retirement has exclusive management responsibility for the control and investment of Fund assets.  SamCERA has an in-house Chief Investment Officer, Michael Coultrip who advises the Board, and two investment analysts on staff.  SamCERA currently has one general investment consultant.  Periodically, the Board undergoes a competitive process on the selection and retention of its general investment consultant.

The selected general investment consultant should provide independent, objective, and creative input to assist the Board in fulfilling its fiduciary responsibility as to the investing of Fund assets and to maintain performance history for reporting and analysis.  The requested services include but are not limited to: investment objectives and asset allocation, management structures, performance measurement and analytics, manager search and evaluation, risk management and analysis, and other operational needs.

The consultant(s) will be expected to offer analysis, advice, and recommendations with respect to one or more of the following:

• Investment Policies
• Investment Strategy
• Investment Management Structures
• Public Markets Manager Research and Monitoring
• Private Markets Manager Research and Monitoring (private equity, private real assets, private real estate, and private credit)
• Performance Evaluation (quarterly total-fund performance reports plus semi-annual private market performance reports)
• Risk Management and Analysis
• Educational presentations at the Board’s annual retreat
• Special Projects
• On-Site Consultation and Assistance

Detailed requirements are set forth in the RFP.

Proposal Submission Process

Qualified proposers should submit proposals both electronically to proposals@samcera.org and mail/deliver five hard copies to:

SamCERA
Attn: Michael Coultrip, Chief Investment Officer
100 Marine Parkway, Suite 125
Redwood City, CA 94065

The proposal deadline is June 30, 2025, by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

The investment consultant selected for this assignment will provide general consulting services on a retainer basis.  The anticipated initial term of the contract will be for 5 years, with an estimated start date of March 1, 2026.

The schedule of RFP Events is set forth in the chart below and may be subject to change:

More Information

The following information can be found under “Related Links” on the right side of this webpage:

• For more information and details about this request for proposal, please read the full RFP, attached as a PDF.