Provision of Consultancy Services to Support and Advise in Respect to the Governance Structure o ...

A. Background and brief Description of the Fund 1. The Secretary-General of the United Nations on behalf of the Chief Executive of Pension Administration of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund ("UNJSPF" or the "Fund") seeks an experienced professional advisor to provide consultancy services to support and advise in respect of the governance structure of the Fund. The professional advisor, with expertise in defined benefit pension plan governance, should conduct a comprehensive and objective analysis with respect to the current UNJSPF governance structure. 2. The Pension Board is the main oversight, policy-making and decision-making body of the Fund. It is entrusted with the overall administration of the Fund and reports to the General Assembly, submitting reports relative to the management of the Fund and its long-term actuarial funded status as well as overall financial situation. The Pension Board also formulates recommendations to the General Assembly for the approval of the Fund’s budget and changes in the Fund’s Regulations, including amendments to plan design. 3. The Pension Board is composed of 33 members: 11 members are appointed by the Governing Bodies; 11 members are appointed by the chief administrative officers of the member organizations and 11 members are elected by the participants in service. In addition, there are four non-voting representatives of retirees on the Pension Board. 4. The Pension Board recommends to the United Nations Secretary-General the appointment of the Chief Executive of Pension Administration and the Deputy Chief Executive of Pension Administration. These elected officials manage day-to-day administration of the Fund and are accountable to the Pension Board. The Chief Executive and the Deputy Chief Executive are independent from the United Nations Secretariat and report only to the Pension Board. The Board also appoints a Secretary of the Board, who supports the Chair of the Pension Board in the facilitation of the Board’s sessions and the work of its committees. 5. Additional information of the Fund and its governance may be found on the Fund’s website at https://www.unjspf.org/ B. Description of Requirements 6. The United Nations General Assembly requested that an independent external entity, with expertise in pension fund governance matters, be engaged to conduct a comprehensive and objective analysis of the governance of the Fund, giving due regard to best practice standards of pension funds, with recommendations on: a. Size, composition, and frequency of meetings; b. Allocation of seats; c. Implementation of a review and rotation scheme for the adjustment of the composition of the Board on a regular basis, to allow eligible member organizations to share rotating seats in a fair and equitable manner; d. Terms of reference for the Chair and all Board members of the Pension Board, including the issue of conflict of interest; e. Self-evaluation methodology and any appropriate restrictions or limitations of the Pension Board and its Standing Committee; f. Any other aspects that may be identified as relevant for the proper governance of the Fund including the development of a code of conduct for Board members. 7. Following the request of the General Assembly, the advisor will need to provide a recommendation for a reform of the governance structure of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund drawing on best practices applied in public pension organizations and other multiple employer pension funds. The report will need to provide specific guidance on the size and composition of the Board, its roles and responsibilities, the Board’s procedures and its committees. 8. The advisor needs to draw on the best practices developed by leading public pension plans and other multiple employer pension funds in the world and provide recommendations to build a reform strategy for the UNJSPF governance. Further, the report should include a transition strategy should such recommendations include significant changes to the structure. 9. A draft report of this study must be provided to the UNJSPB at its 67th session in July 2020. It will then be submitted, with the comments of the Pension Board to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly who will then take up this item in the 4th quarter of 2020. The advisor needs to be available to present the findings and recommendations of the report to the above UNJSPF governing bodies.