Official UK procurement notice
Opportunistic Private Markets Asset Allocation - Investment Management Services
Authority: Dundee City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDundee City Council (the Council) as administering authority for the Tayside Pension Fund (the Fund) is launching this procurement for an investment manager to manage 50% of the Fund’s opportunistic portfolio, which forms 10% of the Fund’s assets (this represents 5% of the value of the Fund, circa GBP 250–GBP 290 million). The Fund is seeking a new mandate to compliment an existing alternatives mandate that would invest across a range of private market asset classes (including private equity, private infrastructure, private debt and private real estate debt). The Fund requires a proportion of the assets to be invested in the UK with a focus in Scotland (investments within Scotland are anticipated to be in the region of at least 10-20% of the total mandate). As well as geographical preferences, environmental and social impact are also key priorities of the mandate, and consideration should be given.
CPV: Pension fund management services · Pension investment services · Pension services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1The Council is the administering authority for the FundPublished value£12,000,000
The Council is the administering authority for the Fund. The Fund is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and is one of the 11 LGPS funds in Scotland and around 100 in the UK.
The Council wishes to appoint an investment manager to manage 50% of the Fund’s opportunistic portfolio, which forms 10% of the Fund’s assets (this represents 5% of the value of the Fund, circa 250–290 million GBP).
The new mandate should seek to compliment the Fund’s existing alternatives mandate, and invest across a range of private market asset classes (including, but not limited to, private equity, private infrastructure, private debt, and private real estate debt).
The Council wishes the mandate to have the following characteristics:
- Target a return of 8% – 10% per annum (net of all fees).
- Be sufficiently diversified, with no one asset class representing more than 40% of the mandate.
- Focus on the following asset classes: private equity, private debt, real estate debt and infrastructure (both debt and equity). Additional asset classes will also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Geographical exposure - investments should be focused on Developed Markets (with currency hedging back to Sterling implementable as required). The portfolio should also consider local investment opportunities within the UK with a focus in Scotland (investments within Scotland are anticipated to be in the region of 10-20% of the total mandate).
- Investment term – it is expected that the mandate will be in place for at least 10 years.
- Liquidity - the preference would be for the mandate to offer at least annual liquidity. However, there is an understanding that an initial lock-up period may be required to help build out investments. The mandate should also be sufficiently liquid to allow further investments to be made, should the Council wish to scale up the size of the mandate.
- The Fund wishes to achieve access to best in class investments across asset classes and is open to using external managers to access investments. Where this is proposed, consideration should be given to minimising double layers of fees and providing transparency on the overall cost of the strategy.
- Environmental and Social impact are key priorities of the mandate’s objectives, and specific consideration should be given. More broadly, Environmental, Social and Governance considerations should be integrated throughout the investment process.
- Fees – the preference would be for a flat fee structure, with no performance fee element.
The contract is being procured using the competitive procedure with negotiation in accordance with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. The contract will be entered into between the Council and the successful bidder.
The procurement process leading to the award of the contract will comprise the following stages:
- Prequalification (SPD) stage
- Initial tender stage
- Negotiation stage
- Final tender stage
- Contract award
The procurement documents being issued at this SPD stage are located within the ‘Additional Documents’ area for this particular contract on the PCS Portal. To participate in the procurement, economic operators must submit a completed SPD Questionnaire via the PCS Portal in accordance with this Contract Notice and the instructions in the SPD Guidance document. This Contract Notice and the SPD Guidance document must be reviewed carefully.
Detailed information regarding the later stages of the procurement including the award criteria and evaluation methodology will be provided to the shortlisted economic operators who are invited to submit an initial tender.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality: 75
- Price: 25
- Economic & financial standing
The relevant selection criteria are included in the SPD Scotland module and the SPD Guidance document which are located within the ‘Additional Documents’ area for this particular contract on the PCS Portal.
Economic operators are required to satisfy minimum levels of economic and financial standing and to provide proof of economic and financial standing. Economic operators must:
a) In response to SPD Question 4B.2(b), confirm that their average yearly turnover in the private market sector over the last three years is over 25million GBP;
b) In response to SPD Question 4B.6, confirm that they have over 40bn GBP in Assets under Management in private markets;
c) In response to SPD Question 4B.6, confirm that their three largest clients represent less than 50% of Assets under Management in private markets;
d) In response to SPD Questions 4B.5, confirm that they have or can commit to obtain, prior to commencement of the contract, the required levels of insurance;
e) In response to SPD Question 4B.6, explicitly state if the economic operator is reliant upon another organisation to satisfy the economic and financial criteria and provide a commitment to obtain a guarantee.
Minimum: Economic operators are required to satisfy minimum standards of economic and financial standing. These are described below: Average turnover in the area covered by the contract (SPD Question 4B.2(b) Economic operators must confirm that their average yearly turnover in the private… - Technical & professional ability
The relevant selection criteria are included in the SPD Scotland module and the SPD Guidance document which are located within the ‘Additional Documents’ area for this particular contract on the PCS Portal.
Minimum: Scored and weighted questions (SPD Question 4C.1.2) In response to SPD Question 4C.1.2, economic operators are required to provide responses and examples that demonstrate that they have the relevant technical and professional ability to deliver the services as described in sectio…
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- Successive reduction
- Candidates will be reduced successively across stages
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Competitive procedure with negotiation
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 17 Oct 2025, 17:52 BST
- Last source update
- 17 Oct 2025, 17:52 BST
- Authority reference
DCC/TPF/151/25- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-066508- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05cf46Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Performance terms
Included in the contract documentation
- Review procedure
Court proceedings can be brought in either the Sheriff Court or Court of Session. Any proceedings relating to a breach of a duty owed by Dundee City Council to an economic operator under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 in relation to this procurement must be started within 30 days beginning with the day on which the economic operator first knew or ought to have known that grounds for beginning the proceedings had arisen. The 30-day limitation period can exceptionally be extended by the Court for up to three months if satisfied that there is a good reason for doing so.
Publisher note: The form of contract will be an investment management agreement (IMA). The IMA to be entered into with the successful bidder will be based the industry standard model published by the Investment Association (IA). Contract documentation will be provided to the shortlisted economic operators. However, the Fund is providing prospective economic operators with a DRAFT IMA as part of the procurement documents being issued at the SPD stage for information only, to inform economic operators of the proposed draft contract terms as early as possible. The DRAFT IMA is subject to change. Further information is set out in the procurement documents. Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in Regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. The duration of the contract at II.2.7 is advertised as 48-months only for the purpose of completing section II.2.7 of the Contract Notice. Please note that the Council anticipates that the manager’s services could be required for the duration of the mandate. It is therefore anticipated that the IMA will be rolling contract with no fixed end date or minimum duration, however the Council reserves the right to terminate the IMA in accordance with its terms. As the contract does not have a fixed term, the estimated contract value at II.1.5 and II.2.6 has been calculated by reference to the estimated monthly value of the contract multiplied by 48 in accordance with Regulation 6(16) of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. Where a group of economic operators is bidding, the Council may require the group to assume a specific legal form for the purpose of the award of the contract, or to require that each economic operator assumes joint and several liability. Please carefully review all information and attachments ('Additional Documents’). All Questions regarding the procurement should be directed through the PCS ‘Q & A' facility. Should users of PCS have any problems with the website, they must contact PCS Website Technical Support. Contact details: can be found by following the ‘Contact Us’ option on the left hand menu at http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/default.aspx Please allow adequate time for uploading documents and to submit the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems. The Council is not liable for any costs incurred by an economic operator in expressing an interest in or otherwise participating in this procurement process. The Council reserves the right in its sole discretion to vary the procurement (or any part of it) at any time; and to not award a contract and to cancel the procurement (or any part of it) at any time. Community benefits are not included in this requirement for the following reasons: not considered to be relevant to the contract. NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=813245. The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx. Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems. A sub-contract clause has been included in this contract. For more information see: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/info/InfoCentre.aspx?ID=2363 The Contracting Authority does not intend to include any community benefit requirements in this contract for the following reason: Not considered to be relevant to the contract. (SC Ref:813245) Download the ESPD document here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=813245
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 19 Nov 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 180 days from the deadline
Timeline
17 Oct 2025 → 30 Jun 2026 · 4 dates- Notice published376 days ago17 Oct 2025, 17:52 BST
- Submission deadline343 days ago19 Nov 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Invitations to tender expected314 days ago19 Dec 2025
- Contract starts121 days ago30 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Dundee Sheriff CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.