Quality of Service Fund investment management

Subject

This call for tenders concerns the mandate for investment management for the Quality of Service Fund (QSF) for a period of four years, from 2025 to 2028.

The deadline for the submission of tenders is 16 February 2024 at 17.00 CET.

Documents

Questions & answers


• Could you please specify if the reference currency to ensure the guarantee of the entire capital is indeed USD? Or do you also have treasury needs in other authorized currencies (CHF or EUR) for investment, and if so, should the capital be preserved in each currency segment?

- Investments will be made exclusively in USD.

• Is the manager authorized to invest in investment funds, or do you prefer to have only a mandate for direct holdings?

- The manager can propose a distribution in different instruments in their offer.

• According to our understanding, you are also looking for a new custodian bank for these assets, is that correct? Should the offer, therefore, include pricing for both fund management and custody?

- Yes, we are looking, if possible, for a new custodian bank for these assets. The offer must include the pricing for managing this fund and should clearly distinguish between management fees and custody fees, and possibly other fees.

• Could you give us an idea of your expectations for liquidity needs to be generated by the portfolio, or alternatively, an idea of the historical withdrawals from the portfolio in recent years?

- It is difficult to estimate since liquidity depends on projects proposed by countries, but it is wise to anticipate a return of approximately 10 million per year (subject to reassessment during the mandate based on the evolving situation), which can, of course, be reinvested if liquidity is sufficient.

• Have you defined any investment constraints, for example, minimum credit ratings?

- Investments must comply with the constraints outlined in the tender. Regarding credit ratings, they should be between A and higher.

• Do you already have a vision of the positions that will be taken over by the new manager? 

- For now, none. It would involve USD short-term bonds, if applicable.