The Connecticut Retirement Security Board has selected Boston College's Center for Retirement Research to conduct a market analysis, and Mercer Oliver Wyman to design a retirement program, conduct a financial feasibility study and provide general consulting services.
Its announcement followed a competitive bidding process. Each designation is subject to successful contract negotiations, said a spokesman for state Treasurer Denise Nappier.
Connecticut's legislature established the board last year to oversee a study of the feasibility of a public retirement program for private-sector employees and to develop an implementation plan for such a program. The board, co-chaired by Nappier and state Comptroller Kevin Lembo, must report its findings by Jan. 1 and develop a comprehensive proposal for creation of such a program by April 1, 2016.
"The goal of this analysis is to explore a public retirement solution for private-sector employees and to fully consider the impact of each possible solution on retirement insecurity in Connecticut," Lembo said.
The board will now negotiate a contract with each of the two vendors. State law provided $186,000 in preliminary funding for the study, with private sources to backstop the remainder.
The study will include a market analysis, recommend a program design based on the results of such market analysis, and then examine the financial feasibility of the program based on the market analysis and recommended program design.