The Texas Pension Review Board, which oversees the implementation of legislative requirements for the minimum educational training of public retirement fund trustees and administrators, is reviewing its program needs and is asking for feedback from pension system leaders and the public.

A panel of four actuaries who work with pension funds across Texas and the U.S. shared their insights and experiences on various topics, such as city participation, intensive reviews, and benchmarking, at the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act (TLFFRA) Education Foundation Conference on Oct. 3, 2023. The panel was moderated by David Fee, the staff actuary for the Texas Pension Review Board (PRB). Getting municipalities to increase their participation was the hot topic of the panel.

The Texas Pension Review Board is reviewing several of the state agency's key rules and seeking public input.

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

The Senate Committee on Finance met on Jan. 30, 2023, to discuss Senate Bill 1, the Senate budget proposal, and to hear presentations from the Legislative Budget Board and Article 1 agencies. It was necessary to reschedule the hearing due to inclement weather; however, the Texas Pension Review Board made its presentation. 

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. 

The Texas Pension Review Board meets at 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Austin at the Capitol Extension, Room E2.028, located at 1100 Congress Avenue. 

This report, compiled by TEXPERS legislative consultants and staff in attendance, is intended to give you an overview and highlight the discussions on the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but based on what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

The Texas Pension Review Board committee creating rules for implementing House Bill 3898 accepted new, flexible proposals from the staff at its May meeting. The rules will be presented to the full Board on July 14 and the official public comment period will begin. Ultimate consideration of all comments and changes is planned for the October PRB meeting.

The Texas Pension Review Board is holding a board meeting at 10 a.m. CST on Thursday, July 14, 2022. The Board's Investment Committee will gather later that afternoon.

Robert "Bob" May, a former actuary member of the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems through his more than 50-year career as a principal actuary at Rudd and Wisdom Inc., died May 24, 2022. 

The Texas House Pension, Investments and Financial Services Committee is hosting a public hearing at 10 a.m. CT on Monday, June 6, 2022, regarding the operation of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and its school district employee benefits program participation. 

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].

The following list is a compilation of the upcoming interim legislative hearings that might interest TEXPERS' System Members. Hearing dates and times are subject to change. Please note that additional hearings dates may also be added at any time. Items directly impacting pensions are highlighted in yellow.

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.