--- title: "Connecticut’s consultant RFP separates recommendations from investment authority | Altss Blog" description: "Connecticut’s 2026 private-capital RFP shows how recommendation duties, fiduciary wording and a separate manager-approval path define different roles." canonical: "https://altss.com/blog/connecticut-private-capital-consultant-recommendations-investment-authority" --- [Altss Research](https://www.linkedin.com/company/altss) 4 min read Updated Oct 22, 2026 Share # Connecticut’s consultant RFP separates recommendations from investment authority Connecticut’s 2026 private-capital RFP shows how recommendation duties, fiduciary wording and a separate manager-approval path define different roles. [Back to blog](https://altss.com/blog) Share [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=) [X](https://x.com/intent/tweet?url=&text=Connecticut%E2%80%99s%20consultant%20RFP%20separates%20recommendations%20from%20investment%20authority) Copy link Connecticut’s 2026 private-capital consulting RFP puts a consultant close to investment decisions: identifying managers, conducting due diligence and recommending opportunities. It also provides a separate route for a selected consultant to be considered as an investment manager, subject to conflict controls, independent due diligence and the Treasurer’s approval. Reading those provisions together matters for GPs: a consulting relationship can influence a pension’s investment pipeline without itself establishing authority to commit capital. The [January 21 RFP](https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ott/doing-business/012126rfpprivateequityprivatecredit.pdf?hash=0D969D62BD3EC65C5134FADD41C3FCA8&rev=2d5445d514f24ef5ab583b8a896c4cc1) sought private-equity and private-credit investment consulting services for the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds. Its governance description identifies the Treasurer as principal fiduciary, an Investment Advisory Council advising the Treasurer, and a chief investment officer overseeing day-to-day operations. That allocation of roles is the setting for the consultant’s work; the title “consultant” alone does not answer who can authorize an investment. ## The recommendation work is substantive The sourcing duties are specific. The consultant is to supply forward calendars of its highest-conviction managers and share active opportunity logs with investment staff. Written initial screening and full due diligence are to be performed at the request of the Treasurer or designated staff. A GP can therefore be relevant to the consultant’s research pipeline before an opportunity reaches a requested diligence assignment. The required diligence spans strategic fit, investment-team experience, ownership and incentives, track record, fund terms and operational capabilities. Its output is a written report and recommendation setting out merits, risks and concerns. For a manager preparing materials, the practical task is to make the investment case usable in that recommendation: explain portfolio fit, substantiate performance and address weaknesses in terms or operations. A research meeting and a favorable recommendation represent different stages from an authorized commitment. The RFP also allows the consultant to assist with designing and recommending processes for identifying and selecting advisers, managers or funds. In monitoring, it asks for review of capital calls and distributions and written certification of consistency with contractual obligations. These are consequential responsibilities, but process design and contractual monitoring do not, by themselves, confer power to select a manager or direct pension cash. ## Fiduciary wording covers advice as well as discretion The minimum qualifications require a written fiduciary acknowledgment covering the exercise of discretionary authority or control over assets, or the rendering of investment advice. The attached agreement template repeats that formulation. The acknowledgment therefore reaches an advisory role; it is not limited to discretionary management. Treating the word “fiduciary” as proof of delegated manager-selection authority would discard that part of the wording. This also limits the opposite conclusion. The conditional reference to discretion does not establish that discretion has been granted, but it does not prohibit a separate delegation. Evidence of actual authority would need to identify the relevant power and its scope in the applicable mandate or agreement. Altss’s [broader consultant and OCIO guide](https://altss.com/blog/investment-consultants-as-gatekeepers-in-2026) explains the fundraising implications of the two models; Connecticut supplies a concrete reason to examine the clauses before classifying the relationship. ## Investment management has a separate approval path The RFP expressly permits respondents to be considered for investment-management services. For a selected consultant, that possibility is conditional on adequate conflict-of-interest controls, compliance with applicable law and the Treasurer’s approval following due diligence by an independent consultant. Eligibility to be considered is therefore distinct from an investment-manager appointment. The document does not say that winning the consulting assignment automatically creates that second engagement. The [published question-and-answer document](https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ott/doing-business/021026responsesquestionsinvestmentconsultingservices.pdf?hash=E0F8B8A970585D00A39C67F594C6BDB2&rev=2c21b7aa6613448ab8001f372607df3b) broadens the service perimeter: alongside the listed active holdings, the scope includes liquidated and future private-equity and private-credit investments. That describes which investments the services cover. It does not turn a reporting or diligence responsibility across that portfolio into authority to make future commitments. For institutional relationship records, the useful distinction is between evidence that a consultant sources or recommends an opportunity and evidence authorizing it to select or implement an investment. Connecticut’s attached personal-services agreement still contains an unnamed selected party, a blank commencement date and an instruction to insert the scope. These procurement documents establish the proposed work and conditions, not a later executed mandate or current award. A GP can use them to prepare for the research and recommendation process while leaving binding investment authority unconfirmed. 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