Table of Contents. Reporting Configuration 34 Handling Special RFP situations 36 Sample Reports Appendix

Transcription

1 User Guide

2 Table of Contents Topic Page Getting Started with RFP Director 3 Setting Up an Opportunity 6 Candidate Screening 15 RFP Creation and Distribution 18 Proposal Review 23 Reviewing Provider Responses Using the optional provider evaluation/scoring feature Reporting Configuration 34 Handling Special RFP situations 36 Sample Reports Appendix 2

3 Getting Started Key Things to know Access to RFP Director RFP Director is linked to FiRM, but is a separate system. When your new RFP Director Account was set up, your account was linked to your FiRM account. Access RFP Director by accessing FiRM like you always have, then clicking on the RFP Director Link from your FiRM home page. How to get additional help Help is available from all the same resources that you currently use for help on FiRM or other LPL RPCP systems. We have also found that help is sometimes needed if Providers have misunderstood pricing entry in RFP Director. Please call FiRM directly at if you encounter any Provider pricing issues, and we will work on training them on how to correctly enter pricing data in the system. 3

4 Getting Started - RFP Director Overview Candidate Selection Provider List, Screening Questions, & Service Inventory RFP Creation / Distribution RFP Configuration, Instructions, & Provider Distribution Response Review & Selection RFP Response Status, Detailed Review & Comments, & Side-by-Side Comparison Provider Response Portal Response Portal for Provider Screening Questions and RFP Reponses Reporting RPF Director (RFPD) is designed to help an advisor manage the provider Request for Proposal (RFP) process on behalf of Plan Sponsors. Through RFPD, an advisor can access a provider capability database, screen for candidates that fit the par7cular needs of a Plan, design and distribute a request for proposal directly to providers, evaluate the proposals that providers submit online, and prepare reports to convey and record part of the en7re RFP process. 4

5 Getting Started - The Opportunity Dashboard Starting point when logging into RFP Director View all your office opportunities and status, including vendor progress on your RFP request Status is N/A if you haven t sent out (distributed) the RFP x/y Responses tells you x (how many) providers have submitted their proposals out of the y providers you sent RFPs to. The RFP Config Status conveys the last activity you have performed on the RFP. Click on an opportunity to view more information. Click on Create new Opportunity to start a new RFP or provider screen 5

6 Creating a New Opportunity Opportunity Basics 1. To get to this screen, click on New Opportunity from the Dashboard. Enter the information requested on the following screens. Advisor Opportunity name is how the advisors wants to view this opportunity, the Provider opportunity name is what the providers sees the name as. Opportunity type tells the provider whether or not it s a full RFP or just a pricing request. Contact name, phone and is given to the provider in case they have questions on the RFP (can be the advisor or someone else) Due Date is the date given to the provider for when their response is due. Status is for archiving any opportunity that you are no longer working on. 6

7 Creating a New Opportunity Plan Basics 1. Enter the information requested The plan name is the actual plan name, which may be different from the opportunity name. The option to not display this to the provider will be provided later. The shaded area is for advisor use only and is not shared with providers. You can optionally upload the plan sponsor logo for plan sponsor reporting purposes (not shown) You can also input plan objectives, which are used for reporting purposes in RFPD 7

8 Creating a New Opportunity Incumbent Lineup This information is used in reporting to compare provider proposed funds and pricing to the current incumbent plan funds and pricing. 1. Enter the information requested (Funds and Assets). 2. The Fund Input options are similar to how FiRM fund search works. Use Fund Search to search by part of a fund name. Use Custom Fund for funds that aren t in the database Use Ticker list to paste a list of tickers into RFPD from an or spreadsheet Use Import from FiRM if you have an account in FiRM and you want to pull an incumbent lineup from an existing plan. 3. The Fund Search option accepts key words to help you find your fund. It will search on multiple words entered. The next few pages go through each other fund entry option 8

9 Creating a New Opportunity Incumbent Lineup Entry Option Fund Search The Fund Search option accepts key words to help you find your fund. It will search on multiple words entered. Click on the plus (+) sign next to the fund to add it to the list 9

10 Creating a New Opportunity Incumbent Lineup entry option Custom Fund entry Frequently used for Funds, such as Stable Value Funds, that may not be in the FiRM database Returns are needed for RFPD performance and composite return reporting Enter all information requested 10

11 Creating a New Opportunity Incumbent Lineup entry option Ticker List entry Enter tickers, separated by spaces or commas (no spaces between commas) Cutting and pasting fund ticker lists from word or excel, or from s will also work. 11

12 Creating a New Opportunity Incumbent Lineup entry option Import from FiRM 1. Click on the Plan Name drop-down to see a list of your plans in FiRM. Choose the plan you want to import. 2. The funds are pulled from FiRM and displayed, as shown. Click on Replace Lineup to move the imported lineup into RFP Director. 12

13 Creating a New Opportunity Incumbent Fee Information 1. Enter the information requested Total Revenue Share is 12b1 and subta fees. Additional Asset Based fees can include Wrap Fees, or any other fees added to a fund in the plan. Ongoing plan fees should comprise all fees on the plan. Investment Management Fees are calculated here by subtracting Total Revenue Share from the Investment Expense, which is Net Expense Ratio times the fund Assets. Fee Components can be added as needed to describe the plan fees. Percentage and Per Participant Units will calculate the fee line item amount for you. Make sure numbers are entered as percentages for example, 10 basis points is.1 percent, so should be entered as.1 13

14 Select RFP Candidates Options for Selecting Providers to send an RFP to: 1. Direct Select - if no screening is required and you just want to pick who to send the RFPs to) 2. Candidate Screening if you d like to apply selection criteria to assist you in selecting the candidate providers to send RFPs to. This screen shows the default Direct Select Mode (1.). Switch to screen mode to apply candidate screening. To select candidates in Direct Select Mode: 1. Click the (+) next to the Provider Product from the list shown in point 2 on the screen. This will move the provider selected up to the Current Selection list (3). 2. Click the (-) next to the Provider Product in the Current Selection List to remove the Provider as a candidate. Note clicking the (i) next to the Provider Product name accesses the provider capability database. 14

15 Candidate Screening Screen/Select Select Mode / View Results Note that this is what the Screen Select Screen can look like if Screen Mode is used. Choose Direct Mode if you don t want to do candidate screening. The first time you view this screen, no data will display. After screening criteria and providers are selected, Providers and Mandatory and Selected Scoring (based on criteria you selected) are displayed. Click on a Score total to view the detailed Scores. When on this page for the first time, click on Manage Screening Criteria 15

16 Candidate Screening View / Edit Current Screening Criteria This screen displays your selected capability screening criteria To choose criteria, Click on Add/Remove Criteria You can classify criteria as Mandatory or Requested, as shown. The enable button allows you to temporarily remove a criteria(by unchecking the box) to see how the overall score is impacted(without having to remove and re-search for the criteria to add it again). You can save sets of criteria as a Template for later re-use. (click on Save as Template 16

17 Candidate Screening Add/Remove Screening Criteria This screen is displayed if Add/ Remove Criteria is selected from the previous screen. Capability criteria can be filtered by category using the dropdown. There is also a free text search box to search the capability list by key word (e.g. ETF, or Statement Delivery, or Taft-Hartley ) 17

18 RFP Creation RFP Instructions/Attachments Instructions are how you convey key information to the Providers on what you are looking for. Items such as treatment of advisor fees and scope of services desired, and any other important information not included elsewhere in your RFP should be included here. Instructions can be saved for reuse by using Save as Template) Key attachments you d like the Provider to have (e.g. the plan s 5500) can be uploaded from this screen. 18

19 RFP Creation Open Questions Open questions are for information you d like to ask all the providers that you don t already have the answer for in the Provider database included with RFP Director. Typical uses: Elaboration on a key feature they have. Specific service offerings based on client location or demographics (e.g. can you provide education in all the client locations) Sets of Open Questions can be saved for later re-use by using Save as Template Any question you create is saved in the Available Questions database shown at the bottom of the screen. These are accessible and searchable when setting up your RFP. 19

20 RFP Creation Requested Lineup Configuration The Requested Lineup is the lineup you are requesting that the providers map to. The left-hand lineup is the lineup you entered as the incumbent lineup earlier. The Requested lineup starts out empty. To copy the Incumbent lineup to the Requested lineup, click the orange shaded arrow between the two lineup areas (see the red highlight circle) If you need to add a fund, click on Search for Fund and utilize the same options as when you created the incumbent lineup. To enter assets, click on the dollar amount next to each fund (not the asset category) and an asset entry box will pop up. Asset categories and the total lineup will display asset dollar totals to help in data entry. 20

21 RFP Creation Candidate Configuration This is the screen for finalizing the lineup and sending the RFP invitation to the providers you are inviting to respond to the RFP. Click on the Make Anonymous checkbox to use the more generic name you set up in the Plan Basics section(used with info sent to the Providers) Click on the Default link under the Fund Lineup column to customize a lineup for a specific provider (this is optional). Click on the Notifications button by any Provider candidate to customize the and the recipients of the invite (some recipients are already set up based on provider requests, others are optional for you). See the next page for what the prep screen looks like. Click on the Distribute button to send the RFP out to the providers listed. 21

22 RFP Creation Candidate Configuration(cont.) Candidate notification This is the invite configuration screen for a provider that you clicked on from the previous screen. Click Add Recipient to view other people you can send the invite to(e.g. your local rep). You can also enter any other address. The is already generated for you, but you can add to it or edit it as needed, with any special instructions. Different messages can be set up for different providers. 22

23 Proposal Review Provider Response Status This is the response dashboard for your RFP. Status Information: In Process: Provider data entry is in process Awaiting Response: The Provider has not started data entry Finalized: The Provider has finished and submitted their proposal in the system. Locking a proposal If a proposal is submitted from a provider, it is locked, the provider cannot change it. You can unlock the proposal by clicking on the lock. The provider can then edit their response. Note, the advisor can edit a provider response when reviewing each providers proposal. Respondents can be removed by clicking on the x at the end of the row. They are then moved down to Removed Responses until you click on the + to move them back up to active respondents. 23

24 Proposal Review Fund Lineup Mapping Here, the advisor can review the lineup that the provider proposed (the right side), and compare it to the lineup the advisor requested (the left side). You can scroll through both lineups independently. If the advisor needs to edit the proposed lineup, or any other part of the proposal, click on the edit button in the top right hand corner of any response screen. 24

25 Proposal Review Pricing Through this screen, the proposed pricing can be reviewed. The top half of the screen contains the revenueshare data and any additional asset based fees. The lower part of the screen shows the fees categorized by fee component (Investment management, Recordkeeper, Administrative, and advisor/ consultant. 25

26 Proposal Review Pricing (cont.) Any differences between the revenue generated by revenue share, and the fees totaled by by fee component is displayed at the bottom of the screen (not shown here) Any one time fees can also be collected in the bottom section of the screen. 26

27 Proposal Review Pricing (cont.) the rate card The purpose of this section is to document any transaction based fees that can be in addition to the plan fees captured on previous screens. The provider may enter included on many of these items, but any costs per item will be noted. 27

28 Proposal Review Pricing Pricing Assumptions In this section the Provider enters any key assumptions made when assembling the pricing proposal. This should cover any unclear services (e.g. how many locations to provide education), or potentially any key assumptions on what funds to offer. Some providers may include some options in addition to what they proposed. It is completely up to the Provider on how they want to use the space available. 28

29 Proposal Review Open Question Responses This is where the Provider s answers to the Advisor s (Optional) Open ended questions can be reviewed. 29

30 Proposal Review Provider Summary Page This is the Provider s opportunity to create a cover letter a place where they can sell their proposed solution. Again, it is completely up to the Provider on how they use this section. They are only allotted one page worth of response. 30

31 Proposal Review Provider Evaluation / Scoring (Optional) A customizable scoring system is provided for optional advisor use. How it works Nine provider service areas are assigned points. The total of the points must = 100. The advisor, based on Plan Sponsor input, assigns a 1-5 star rating for each area for each provider. How the advisor arrives at this rating is up to the advisor, and may be based on this proposal, or past experience. The system uses the weighted points and star ratings to calculate a 100 point based score for each provider. Data entry Assign the star ratings by clicking on the appropriate star Assign the point weighting by enter a whole number between 1 and 100 for each item in the Weight column. 31

32 Proposal Review Provider Evaluation - Commentary RFPD provides report sections that can include Commentary on the overall evaluation process and the individual Providers. This screen is for entry of that commentary. For the individual Provider commentary on the bottom half of this screen, click on the Selected Candidate to switch from one Provider to another. 32

33 Proposal Review Provider Award RFP Director also includes reporting sections that allow the advisor to document the plan sponsor s selection of the Provider and the rationale for the selection. This screen collects the data for that report section. Once a winner has been awarded in the system, a trophy icon displays on the response dashboard, to make it easy to identify who was awarded the work. 33

34 Report Configuration Reporting Reporting works similarly to how FiRM supports reporting. Report Sections can be moved back and forth and re-ordered. Report Templates can be saved and reused through use of the Select Template and Save as Template buttons. The user can select the report title. A specialized template management system is set up for capability reporting. The advisor uses these templates to choose what capabilities to include in a report. Through templates, an advisor can have several different capability summary reports available, varying by level of detail/length, type of plan, size of plan, etc. In the near future, the option to save a report to the Plan Portal will be offered. For now, a report can be generated and then the resulting pdf can be uploaded to the Portal/Vault. 34

35 Report Configuration Reporting Options A sample report containing various report sec7ons is a[ached as an appendix. Report Sec*on Execu7ve Summary Methodology Capability Detail Strengths and Limita7ons Screening Criteria Candidate Screening Results Provider Summary Pricing Comparison Rate Card Fund Line- up Pricing Assump7ons RFP Ques7ons Evalua7on Summary Provider Selec7on Synopsis Descrip*on One page summary showing progress within Methodology and Plan Objec7ves One page sta7c graphic depic7ng the RFP Process Displays Advisor selected provider capabili7es for selected providers One page Advisor- generated informa7on about each Provider selected Shows the criteria chosen to screen the providers with Shows Capabili7es met/not met for capabili7es selected by the advisor / Plan Sponsor A one page cover le[er by the provider, included with the proposal Pricing Summary and detail level reports, showing summarized fees by type, and total fees across proposals Addi7onal per transac7on costs, if any for each provider, by transac7on type The lineup used to help generate the pricing proposal Produced by the provider when assembling the proposal, to reflect any key assump7ons Displays the Open RFP Ques7ons from the advisor, with each provider s responses Summarizes plan costs and the Provider Evalua7on Score, if used. One page report showing what provider was selected and any ra7onale for the choice 35

36 Handling Special RFP Situations Through advisor feedback, RFP Director will more and more efficiently handle the more popular out of the ordinary proposal situations LPL advisors encounter. Based on current RFPD functionality, here are ways to handle some of those situations now: Asking for Revenue Requirements and not lineups. Enter a single fund (e.g. stable value or money market) in the lineup. Mention the need for revenue requirements in the Instructions and ask for the amount in the open questions Handling multiple plan requests Enter each plan as a separate opportunity, and utilize the Provider Instructions to indicate the names of the plans that will be considered together. If you think a provider misquotes pricing in their proposal Call FiRM at or us and info@fiduciarymanagement.com and we ll contact the provider immediately. This is our opportunity to train providers as needed. If a provider isn t listed Call FiRM at or us and info@fiduciarymanagement.com and we ll contact the provider immediately. 36