For public pension fund trustees, administrators and investment firm managers, business success relies heavily on networking and connecting with the right people. Participating in a golf tournament is an ideal way to achieve both goals while having fun.

The Pension Review Board recently launched a new Minimum Educational Training website, according to a memo the state agency distributed to Texas public pension trustees and administrators on Jan. 9. 

At 10 a.m. CST on Thursday, Dec. 8, the Texas Pension Review Board will meet to review the actuarial soundness and compliance of state and local government public retirement systems. Those interested in managing public employee pension systems may attend in person or via videoconference. 

Administrators and trustees of public retirement systems must act in the best interests of their beneficiaries, exercise good faith in their duties, seek professional services, and supervise those to whom functions are assigned. To put it simply - you're a leader. 

Napier Park Global is a Silver Sponsor of TEXPERS' 2022 Summer Educational Forum Aug. 21-23 in El Paso, Texas, and is sending Amit Sanghani, managing director and product specialist for the firm's global credit and real asset strategies.

As a Silver Sponsor of TEXPERS' 2022 Summer Educational Forum in El Paso, Texas, Oxford Funds, LLC will send Senior Portfolio Manager Deep Maji to present.

Amundi Asset Management is serving as a Gold Keynote Sponsor of TEXPERS' 2022 Summer Educational Forum to be held Aug. 21-23, 2022, in El Paso, Texas.

The Institutional Limited Partners Association's ILPA Institute will be in Austin May 11-12, 2022, offering its executive education programming for trustees. The Private Equity for Trustee course explores the basic aspects of the private equity asset class, the economics of a private equity investment, the current state of the market, and its external perception. The program fee is $1499 and will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the DLA Piper Austin Office, 303 Colorado St., Suite 3000, in Austin. For more information and to register, contact Mandy Ilk at [email protected].

Public pension fund trustees and administrators benefit from participating in TEXPERS conferences by receiving valuable education and connecting with other professionals committed to securing retirement for public employees. Your next opportunity to boost your professional skills is during our Annual Conference April 3-6, 2022, at The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas.

Editor's note: Before Steve Toyota, a Vice President on the Business Development team at fund management and investment advisory firm Capital Dynamics, he spent 28 years with the Miramar Police Department. He retired from the police department in February of 2021. He had served as a trustee on the Miramar Police Officers' Retirement Plan Board since 1998 and was chairman of the Board from 2005 to 2019. During his 20-plus years as a trustee on this retirement plan's Board, he worked with investment managers of nearly every asset class, helping grow the plan from $20 million to $260 million. At Capital Dynamics, as a global private asset manager, he focuses on private equity, private credit, and clean energy infrastructure and has gained extensive knowledge and experience developing solutions tailored to meet the needs of a diverse and global client base of institutional investors, including public pension systems. In this blog post, he explains why it is important for trustees to get involved in their retirement plan's decisions, why he moved from policing to investment management and offers advice to trustees.

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