Celebrating World Population Day on Tuesday, July 11, 2023

July 11 is World Population Day, a time to celebrate the growth of our global society and recognize how population changes impact our lives. The U.S. Census Bureau population projections indicate the world population will surpass 8 billion by the end of this year.

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Maximize Your Success

As members of the pensions and investments industry, we know that professional development is essential for staying current on trends and regulations. TEXPERS is proud to host its Summer Educational Forum in The Woodlands, Texas – an annual event designed to provide public employee retirement system administrators, board members, and other key stakeholders with the necessary tools and resources to maximize their professional growth. In this blog post, we'll discuss how you can make the most out of your experience at the conference and prepare for success!

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A Pension Act in 1776 Paved the Way to Ensure Financial Security for Government Workers Today

In 1776, the founding fathers of the United States declared independence from Great Britain and made a bold statement: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” This declaration was a major milestone in the history of our nation and has been seen as a major contributor to our current retirement system. Public employee pension system leaders can thank the founding of the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence for the right to receive defined benefits and secure retirement plans - enabling local government workers to retire with peace of mind. In this blog post, we will explore how this important document has helped shape today’s public employee retirement benefits.

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Report Warns of More Economic Shocks

A recently released report from Ortec Finance has some interesting findings about the U.S. public pension plan sector. According to the Ortec Finance report, 90% of public sector pension plan managers expect to increase spending on scenario modeling and stress testing in the next two years to manage market shocks. For TEXPERS System Members, scenario modeling and stress testing are familiar tools they use to better understand how market volatility may affect their pensions. We'll look at the report's key findings and provide context. 

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Next-gen Security Providers Offer Products That Protect Multiple Parts of the IT Supply Chain and Use AI to Find Network Anomalies or Threats

Over the past decade, as businesses have undertaken digital transformation initiatives to improve efficiencies and outcomes, cyberattacks have continued to increase in both frequency and complexity. These cyberattacks are increasingly committed by well-funded criminal and state-sanctioned groups seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and disrupt operations for financial gain or to steal intellectual property and other sensitive data for competitive gains or national intelligence purposes. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses of all sizes have responded to new, unexpected customer and employee needs by accelerating their investments in digital technologies. These investments have not only driven positive business outcomes but have also created new areas of vulnerability for companies across their entire technology supply chain and infrastructure. The increase in the number of endpoints resulting from the exponential growth of mobile computing and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, as well as the larger technology infrastructure surface areas supporting cloud-computing needs, has provided cyber attackers with more areas to potentially exploit and gain unauthorized access. These cyberattacks contribute to a wide variety of adverse outcomes—lost revenue from network downtime, increased costs from ransom payments, fines and/or mitigation spending, lost data integrity, impact to the business from increased reputational risk and, in certain cases, national security risks. As businesses continue to invest in digital transformation to accelerate growth initiatives, the increased threat from cyber criminals will also require larger and more targeted investments in next-generation cybersecurity defense technology to protect digital assets and networks while minimizing the operational and financial costs of a cyberattack.

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Approaching Investing in The Republic of China

China’s economy and markets are not only too large to ignore, but they are now so large that there is a small but growing group of investors who approach China as a specific investment allocation.

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As Globalization Slows and Labor Markets Tighten, Inflation Will Rise

As we settle into the first quarter of 2023, it’s worth discussing the current cycle and the implications for markets in 2023—but the bigger issue is the developing likelihood we have begun to shift into a different economic and market environment, marking a different era than we have seen in the decade-plus since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). 

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Listed REITs Have Likely Priced in a Recession; Analysis Points to a Recovery Next

Investors have priced in a negative, forward-looking view of listed real estate. Slowing growth and higher inflation have created a stagflationary backdrop that has been especially challenging for REITs. The result is that there has been a dramatic performance difference between listed and private real estate in 2022. While REITs, as measured by the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index, are down -27.9% through September and down -21% through November, the NCREIF ODCE index, a measure of private real estate that is calculated quarterly, is up 13% through September on a total return basis. Based on history, we believe that gap in performance will not persist. Indeed, private real estate returns are just beginning to slow as expected. Private real estate typically lags listed real estate due to its slower-moving price discovery and transactions.

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Inflation Regimes and Return Distributions

Goldman Sachs recently released a chart depicting the low or negative correlation between stocks and bonds we have seen over the past few decades. This has been attributable to the low inflationary regime over the period. This makes perfect sense given monetary policy's operation over the last twenty-five years. Counter cyclical policy is very effective in periods of low and stable inflation. When equity markets become concerned about recessions ahead, earnings expectations reduce and valuation multiples contract. Stock prices fall. Bond markets typically would then anticipate the increased chance of the standard monetary policy response; cutting interest rates to spur economic growth. Bond prices rise.

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Celebrating Older Americans: Uncovering the Contributions of America's Aging Population in May 2023

In May 2023, Americans are invited to join in celebrating Older Americans Month – a time dedicated to recognizing the contributions of older Americans to our nation’s culture and society. U.S. population statistics show that the number of Americans age 65 and older is expected to double over the next 25 years – making it more important than ever for TEXPERS members to appreciate and value the contributions of this segment of our population. Join us as we explore why celebrating Older Americans Month is so important for all of us!

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'The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning' is Looking for TEXPERS Pension System Members to Apply for Its Next Season in Austin

 

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Legislative Committees You Might Want to Watch

TEXPERS members might want to tune in for upcoming legislative hearings. 

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Brief Finds State and Local Pensions Should Stabilize Debt as Share of Economy Instead of Fully Funding Them

The author of a new brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College finds that state and local pension plans should focus on stabilizing their pension debt as a share of the economy rather than full funding. The alternative of fully prefunding state and local pensions to maintain fiscal sustainability will mean big contribution hikes. 

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Bill Impacting Public Retirement System Investing Agents Placed on the Senate Calendar

There is a bill on the Texas Senate Calendar for April 19 that relates to the fiduciary responsibilities of the governing bodies of public retirement systems in the state and their investment managers and proxy advisors.

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House Pensions & Investments Committee to Host Public Hearing at 8 a.m. on April 12

The Texas House Committee on Pensions, Investments and Financial Services is holding a public hearing at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 12 in E2.014 of the Capitol Building. 

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Jeff Mueller of Polen Capital to Keynote TEXPERS' 2023 Annual Conference

TEXPERS is thrilled to announce Polen Capital as the Gold Sponsor and keynote presenter for our 2023 Annual Conference taking place April 2-5, 2023, at Austin Marriott Downtown, 304 E. Cesar Chavez St. in Austin, Texas.

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We've Sold Out of Our Conference Hotel Block Rooms

We've sold out of our room block at the Austin Marriott Downtown, the official hotel venue for the TEXPERS' 2023 Annual Conference, April 2-5 in Austin, Texas!

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Overview of March 1 House Pensions Committee Meeting

House Committee on Pensions, Investment, and Financial Services members met on March 1 to discuss the Employee Retirement System and the Teacher Retirement System, among other topics.

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Uncover How Lawmakers Could Impact Your Public Retirement System in the 88th Legislative Session

The 88th Texas Legislative Session is in full swing, with lawmakers proposing and debating bills that could significantly impact public employee pension plans.

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Fulfill State-mandated Educational Requirement Through TEXPERS Courses

TEXPERS is holding Basic and Advanced training on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at the Austin Marriott Downtown, 304 E. Cesar Chavez St.

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