Request for Information (RFI)
Client:
Capital Cities’ Institutional Clients
PRODUCT TYPE:
Global Unconstrained Equity
Capital Cities is re-evaluating the opportunity set of investment managers within Global
Unconstrained Equity. In general, Capital Cities favors an equity manager structure consisting
of broad, passive exposure complemented by active, unconstrained equity managers. As such,
many of Capital Cities institutional clients (Foundations/Endowments, Defined Contribution,
Defined Benefit and Public Funds) have exposure to Global Unconstrained Equity. While many
clients’ needs can be met via a mutual fund or commingled pool, some of Capital Cities clients
require a separately managed account (including the ability to restrict tobacco). Should this
search result in replacement recommendations for our clients, one to two Global Unconstrained
Equity managers could be considered for up to approximately $100 million in client mandates.
Capital Cities considers global unconstrained equity managers as being able to construct a
portfolio in the following fashion:
‒ may be concentrated or diversified portfolios;
‒ invest across the market capitalization, style and global spectrum in a strategic or tactical
manner;
‒ invest with an absolute return or relative return mindset;
‒ seek to achieve equity-like returns;
‒ may hold common stock, cash and/or fixed income;
‒ may hold ADRs;
‒ incorporate a top-down and/or bottom-up (or combination of the two) approach.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION QUESTIONAIRRE
Please be succinct in your answers. Thank you for the time you and your organization will
expend in responding. Please save your response as a Word document – NOT Adobe.
Please remember to include an Excel document with performance specific to Section VI.
All responses are due by 12pm noon EST on Friday, November 7. Responses must be
submitted via email to [email protected]. Please include your firm name in the
subject line, along with “Global Unconstrained Equity RFI”. Example: “Manager ABC Global Unconstrained Equity RFI”. Questions pertaining to this RFI should be emailed to
[email protected] by 12pm noon EST on Friday, October 24. Capital Cities will post
all questions/answers on www.capcities.com/vendor-opportunities on or around October
29. Please note that phone calls to clients or the consultant are prohibited.
1
Name of Proposed
Product
Brief Description of
Strategy
Index (if applicable)
I.
IDENTITY, FIRM and ADDRESS of PRINCIPALS
 A.
Name of firm(s).
 B.
Name, address, telephone numbers and email address of key contact.
 C.
Please provide a brief history of the firm, including where your firm is
headquartered and the year it was founded.
 D.
Have any lawsuits or regulatory actions been taken against the firm, its executives
or its principals in the last three years?
 E.
Does your firm legally qualify as a minority-owned or majority women-owned
firm?
II.
BUSINESS FOCUS
 A.
Provide the total assets managed by the firm within the following account
types. Where separate account is indicated provide the total for both separate accounts
and commingled trust vehicles. Provide the number of accounts and assets gained and
lost over the last three calendar years and YTD ending June 30, 2014.
YR
Account Type
# Acts.
Assets
$(mm)
06/14 Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
12/13 Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
12/12 Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
12/11 Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
2
Gained
$(mm)
Lost
$(mm)
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
B. Breakdown the total assets managed by the firm within the following asset classes
as of June 30, 2014. The total should equal the number of accounts and assets
provided in the response to the previous question.
Asset Class
Domestic Balanced
Domestic Equity
Fixed Income
Other (Describe)
III.
# of Accts.
Assets $(mm)
PRODUCT ASSETS
 A.
Provide the product name, ticker (if applicable), and inception date for each of the
vehicle types (e.g. different share classes of mutual funds, commingled trusts, separate
account, etc.) available for this particular product/strategy.
 B.
Provide the total assets under management and the number of accounts in the
product within the following account types for each of the last three calendar years and
YTD ending 6/30/14.
YR
6/30/14
12/13
12/12
12/11
Investment Vehicle
Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
Mutual Funds
Commingled Pools
Separate Accounts
TOTAL
# of Accts.
3
Assets $(mm)
IV.
PRODUCT PERSONNEL
 A.
Please provide a brief biography of each person responsible for making decisions
regarding this product. Include educational background, industry experience, tenure with
firm, tenure with product, and a description of their roles and responsibilities.
 B.
Please describe the decision-making process that is used in managing assets for
this product. Are decisions made by a committee, or does each portfolio manager have
independent discretion over the assets?
V.
INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY AND PROCESS
 A.
Briefly describe your investment process as it relates to each of the following:
Investment Philosophy:
Sector Selection:
Portfolio Construction:
Research Process:
Sell Discipline:
Risk Management:
 B.
Please discuss what makes your philosophy and process unique. Why do you
think your philosophy will be successful in the future?
 C.
Are there any inherent biases (i.e., size or style) embedded into the strategy?
 D.
What is the breakout between the quantitative/fundamental approach of the
strategy?
 E.
To what extent does this product utilize derivatives? Please explain.
percent of the product portfolio do derivatives usually represent?
What
 F.
Please discuss your product’s benchmark awareness. Does your strategy employ
any size or allocation constraints pertaining to industry, sector, or individual security? If
so, please describe. How many securities are currently in the portfolios that are not held
by the benchmark?
4
 G.
Please provide your Strategy’s exposure to the asset classes for each of the
calendar years below and YTD ending 6/30/14.
YR
6/30/14
12/13
12/12
VI.
Asset Class
Equity
US Equity
Non-US Developed Equity
Emerging Markets
Fixed Income
Cash
Other
Equity
US Equity
Non-US Developed Equity
Emerging Markets
Fixed Income
Cash
Other
Equity
US Equity
Non-US Developed Equity
Emerging Markets
Fixed Income
Cash
Other
%
PERFORMANCE and RISK
 A.
Please attach an Excel spreadsheet (not Adobe or read only) with quarterly results
for the last 40 calendar quarters or since inception (whichever is shorter). Please enter
performance data as a number rather than a percent (for instance, 1.05% should simply be
entered as 1.05).
 B.
Against what benchmark should your performance be compared?
 C.
What are the performance/risk objectives of the strategy? What is the expected
level of outperformance? Over what time frame? Generally describe the fixed income
market environment that would be most favorable to your strategy vs. most unfavorable.
 D.
Is any portion of the performance record carried over from another firm? If so,
what was the name of the other firm?
5
VII.
FEES and OTHER
 A.
Provide your fee schedules/expense ratio for the proposed product for all
available vehicle types.
 B.
What is the minimum account size for the proposed product for all available
vehicle types?
 C.
Is there anything else you would like us to know about your firm that was not
covered in the previous questions? (limit one page)
 D. Discuss your ability to restrict tobacco-related investments. What would be the
minimum account size for a tobacco-free account?
6