Retirement fund trustees, administrators, and industry professionals from across Texas will gather in Harlingen this fall for the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act Education Foundation’s 2026 Educational Conference.

The race to develop artificial general intelligence is no longer just a technology story. It is emerging as a global competition with economic, geopolitical, and systemic implications, precisely the kind of long-horizon risk public pension fiduciaries are expected to monitor. A new RAND Corporation report, A Prisoner’s Dilemma in the Race to Artificial General Intelligence, offers a clear, neutral way to understand what’s driving this race and why it matters.

Trustees and administrators of Texas public employee retirement systems plan for service across decades. A new national study reveals that many Americans are not adopting the same long-term perspective. The inaugural Longevity Preparedness Index highlights significant gaps in people's readiness for extended lifespans. The Index was developed by John Hancock and the MIT AgeLab. Its findings have direct implications for the public employees who rely on defined benefit plans, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMTs, librarians, utility workers, and municipal staff across Texas.

A newly released November 2025 issue brief from the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), authored by Keith Brainard, NASRA Research Director, and Alex Brown, NASRA Research Manager, provides a detailed overview of employee contributions to public pension plans across the United States. The report, titled "Employee Contributions to Public Pension Plans," outlines national trends, recent reforms, and the increasing use of risk-sharing tools in public retirement systems. 

Research from the Pew Research Center confirms something pension trustees have long understood: how well Americans age is deeply shaped by income, and the gap between older adults’ lived experience and younger adults’ expectations is striking.

TEXPERS System Members are used to thinking in decades, balancing today’s benefits against tomorrow’s obligations. But what happens when tomorrow lasts longer than ever?

How much did COVID-19 really change how long people live—and what does that mean for public pension plans? A new report compiled by the Retirement Plans Experience Committee of the Society of Actuaries Research Institute sheds light on post-pandemic mortality trends, and the findings could affect every trustee’s outlook on plan funding and assumptions. However, here’s the short version, along with a link to an audio explainer on the TEXPERS' Deep Dive podcast.

A single tap could be all it takes to compromise sensitive retirement data.

When identity theft hits home, it’s not just a personal crisis; it’s a governance issue. New data from the Identity Theft Resource Center shows that cyberattacks are causing deeper financial and emotional harm than ever before. For pension systems that guard sensitive member data, the message is clear: protecting information is part of protecting benefits.

Understanding how long people expect to live doesn’t just influence their personal retirement choices; it also shapes how they value lifetime benefits. For trustees and administrators of public pension systems, this awareness gap presents a significant challenge to effective communication.

When the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) temporarily halted operations during the recent federal government shutdown, one independent research firm stepped in to fill the gap. Revelio Labs released its Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) report, estimating that the U.S. economy added 60,000 jobs in September, according to a press release.

Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed four new members to the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) Board of Trustees, which oversees retirement benefits for employees of more than 800 cities across Texas.

The global energy sector is entering a period of uncertainty that could affect investment decisions, according to the Reuters Events Energy Transition Insights Report 2025. For trustees and administrators of Texas public employee retirement systems, understanding these shifts is important for evaluating risks, monitoring portfolio exposure, and ensuring fiduciary oversight in a changing market. Note: Readers must sign up with Reuters Events to download the full Global Energy Markets Insights Report.

Staying ahead of retirement trends isn’t just about portfolio returns—it’s also about understanding where retirees live and what factors shape their quality of life. WalletHub’s annual “Best & Worst Places to Retire” reports—covering both states and cities—offer a window into those realities.

Many older retirement investors are more cautious about stocks than they need to be; however, a new study finds that financial advisors often recommend higher equity allocations — advice that could actually help households achieve better long-term outcomes.

Over the past two decades, 11 million more U.S. households have paid off their mortgages, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. That’s good news for retirement readiness among public employees. But the story isn’t all positive—the majority of homes are still owned with mortgages, and that reality underscores the financial pressures trustees and administrators must keep in mind as we plan for the future of our systems.

Nevada's Aug. 30 ransomware shutdown shows how fast entire systems—even pensions—could be paralyzed by a single cyber strike.

For pension fund trustees and administrators, understanding workforce trends is essential to anticipating contribution flows and retirement readiness. The U.S. Census Bureau on Sept. 3 released Educational Attainment in the United States: 2024, a table package examining the education levels of adults age 18 and older. The findings provide valuable insight into the economic and demographic forces that shape public pension systems.

Two of the nation's largest proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, are suing the State of Texas over a new law that could directly affect how public pension funds and trustees receive shareholder voting guidance.

Texas Pension Review Board staff actuary David Fee and agency intern Annika Leong, briefed board members July 10 on the latest steps in the Funding Soundness Restoration Plan. Their report outlined shifts in actuarial assumptions, valuation timing, key system statistics, and statewide funding trends, highlighting both system-specific changes and broader patterns in public pension liabilities and assumptions.