JOB ADVERTISEMENT: Our client, Austin Fire Fighters Relief & Retirement Fund (AFRS), a single employer defined benefit pension plan provides service retirement, death, disability and termination benefits for eligible members and their survivors, is seeking a Fund Administrator.   

With material inflation returning for the first time in years, investors are tasked with defending their portfolios against its erosive effects. Often, this has been done via investment in real estate, long touted as an effective hedging strategy in periods of rising prices, though why this has persisted as part of the investing canon bears repeating given the current environment.

In a state very much open for business after a more than a year of social distancing during a pandemic, nearly 290 people headed "Back to the Future" to get some insight into how the pension management industry might look in a post-pandemic world during TEXPERS' 2021 Summer Educational Forum, Aug. 29-31, in San Antonio, Texas.

What You Need to Know

As the world starts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a range of factors are converging to create a new inflationary era. Crucially, the policy regime is changing, driven by the need to respond to emerging social and environmental challenges and help manage record peacetime debt levels. These developments reinforce longer-term structural changes that are ending the long period of disinflation that the developed world enjoyed from 1980 to 2020. Such secular trends include the reversal of positive demographics and the start of de-globalization. How did we get to this juncture? What can we learn from previous inflationary episodes? And what are the chances of a different outcome this time?

The rise of China’s digital champions has been an engine of innovation and growth and a compelling investment opportunity over the past years.

Part of the job of administrators and trustees of public employee retirement systems is to keep up with legislation that could impact the benefits of their fund's active and retired members. The Library of Congress will hold a public forum next month to update the public on the latest improvements to Congress.gov, the official source for federal legislative information. 

The Texas Emergency Services Retirement System is seeking an experienced accounting professional to join the agency as Chief Financial Officer, according to a news release the TESRS submitted on July 27, 2021. 

The state of Texas doesn't simply encourage professional development for public employee pension trustees and administrators; it mandates it.

Often an overlooked asset class, we believe that CLO equity deserves strong consideration as a strategic allocation given its attractive historical return profile, time-tested proven structure, and potential diversification benefits the asset class can provide a broader portfolio.