Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition

Background
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is seeking to award a sole-source contract to PGIM, INC to ensure continuity of critical fixed-income investment services while the agency completes a competitive source selection process. This action is necessary to prevent a lapse in services that are essential for managing corporate investments, particularly as PBGC anticipates awarding new contracts around March 2027.

Work Details
The contractor will provide active investment management and related services for fixed income portfolios. The primary objective is to construct portfolios that yield superior returns exceeding their respective benchmarks while adhering to specified risk parameters.

The portfolios will encompass four Trust Fund fixed income strategies: Core Fixed Income, Long Duration Fixed Income, Global Fixed Income, and Emerging Markets Debt. The contractor must ensure regular oversight, trading, risk management, and compliance monitoring to mitigate operational, fiduciary, and market risks.

Period of Performance
The anticipated period of performance is six months with an optional three-month extension, starting from September 30, 2026.

Place of Performance
The specific geographic location for the performance of this contract has not been provided.

Bidder Requirements
PGIM is identified as the only contractor capable of fulfilling these requirements due to their unique qualifications and the urgency of the situation. No other bidders are expected as the timeline does not allow for competitive bidding without risking a lapse in service.

Incumbent Analysis (see Incumbents section for more detail)
The prior contract 16PBGC26P0011 was awarded to PGIM (award value $4.6M) with a period of performance beginning September 25, 2026, and the current sole-source action references that same contract number. The prior work is described as a “bridge” for fixed-income investment management services, and the current requirement similarly calls for active management and ongoing oversight (trading, risk management, and compliance) across multiple fixed-income strategies. This suggests the new effort is a continuation/extension of the same investment management support needed to avoid interruption while PBGC completes a competitive procurement.