Webinar Focuses on Convertible Securities

Webcast Allows Retirement Fund Trustees and Administrators Opportunity to Earn Continuing Education Credit

Janus Henderson Presents Educational Webinar

The Session is Part of a New Series of Online Learning Aimed at 

Pension Fund Trustees and Admins

Screen capture of Sept. 9, 2020, webinar hosted by TEXPERS and presented by Janus Henderson Investors.

TEXPERS STAFF REPORT

The Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems and hosted an online discussion on the often overlooked risk and return benefits of adding Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to a broader real estate portfolio.

The educational webinar was present by Janus Henderson Investors on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

> ON DEMAND: Click to watch a recording.

Danny Greenberger, portfolio manager of Global Property Equities, and Guy Barnard, co-head and portfolio manager of Global Property Equities, at Janus Henderson lead the educational session. 

Over the last decade, institutional investors have turned to a range of private investments – equity, debt and real estate – in search of higher returns, said Geenberger and Barnard. However, they added, that while private equities and debt have outperformed their listed counterparts for the past 20 years, the same cannot be said in real estate. According to their presentation, many public plans are significantly underweight Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) relative to the size of the asset class.

During the webinar, Janus Henderson's Global Real Estate Team highlighted the benefits of an allocation to REITs, including:

• The ability to access "non-core" property types – such as self-storage, cell towers, data centers, single tenant net lease and manufactured housing – with long-term cash flow growth opportunities;
• The ability to be more nimble when shorter-term market opportunities arise;
• Daily liquidity

As an Accredited Sponsor of the Pension Review Board of Texas, TEXPERS provided 1 credit hour of Continuing Education credits to pension plan trustees and administrators who attended the live webinar, participated in polling questions, and entered a code provided at the end of the webinar in a post-event survey.

Although a recording of the webinar is available for on-demand viewing through TEXPERS' GoToWebinar platform, only those who sat through the live session are eligible to earn the training credit. 

The webinar is part of a series of educational sessions meant to assist public pension system trustees and administrators earn state-mandated training hours. TEXPERS established the educational series in place of in-person programming that was to take place during the association's Annual Conference and Summer Educational Forum, which were canceled this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

TEXPERS hosted a webinar in May and another in July as part of the educational series. Additional webinars are scheduled and association staff are organizing more sessions.

Upcoming Online Learning

Webinar | Taking Stock of Your Advisory Relationship: Outsource CIO, Consultants, and the Market
Presented by PFM LLC, PNC Capital Advisors, & CBIZ Inc.
10 a.m. CST on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020
Qualifies for 1 credit hour for Basic or Advanced Trustee Training in Investments.

Webinar | Direct Lending - The Benefits of Scale and Differentiated Sourcing
Presented by HPS Investment Partners
10 a.m. CST on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020
Qualifies for 1 credit hour for Basic or Advanced Trustee Training in Investments.

Mandated Training Hours

Texas law requires the Pension Review Board to establish a Minimum Educational Training Program for trustees and system administrators of state and local public retirement systems. The PRB's Minimum Educational Training requirements include core and non-core topic areas. New trustees and administrators must earn a minimum of 7 hours of training within their first year of service. Continuing trustees and administrators must receive a minimum of 4 hours of training every two years after their first year of service. 

TEXPERS is offering credit training hours for core and non-core topics. New trustees and administrators needing additional first-year training may do so online through the PRB's website.

>ADDITIONAL TRAINING: Pension Review Board MET Info

Webinar Replays

In May, TEXPERS hosted Controlled Acceleration: Using Derivatives to Manage Pension Plan Risk, Return & Liquidity. Sponsored by TEXPERS Consultant Member River and Mercantile, the webinar is accessible through the association's blog.

>WEBINAR REPLAY: Controlled Acceleration

In July, TEXPERS hosted COVID-19: Impact on a Pension Plan's Liquidity. Also sponsored by TEXPERS Consultant Member River and Mercantile, a replay of the webinar is accessible through the association's blog.

>WEBINAR REPLAY: Impact of COVID-19 on Liquidity

TEXPERS building online learning series

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

By ALLEN JONES/TEXPERS Communications Manager

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the respiratory illness that causes COVID-19, has adversely impacted TEXPERS' ability to host its Annual Conference and Educational Forum this year. However, the association's staff is lining up online events offering members the ability to develop their professional skills and earn credit for their state-mandated training hours.

TEXPERS' board of directors announced in June that the association canceled its Annual Conference in San Antonio due to social distancing restrictions. The board and staff recognized that although it could not hold an in-person event, association members still need to fulfill state-mandated training. The staff has developed a series of online seminars as a practical and free alternative for system member trustees and administrators to continue their education.

As an Accredited Sponsor of the Pension Review Board of Texas, TEXPERS is providing credit hours of training to pension plan trustees and administrators. Several sessions formerly to be held during the Annual Conference have been reconfigured for online presentations that allow first-year and continuing trustees and administrators to earn credit hours.

New and Continuing Trustees and Administrators may earn 1 credit hour per designated webinar. Each online session is lead by pension or investment industry experts. 

To earn a credit hour, attendees are required to sit through an entire presentation, participate in polling questions during the session, and answer a survey after the webinar. A code will appear on the screen after each webinar and attendees will need to provide it in the survey as proof that they sat through the session to the end.

Online sessions took place in May and July, and three more are coming up in September. The association staff is busy putting together additional educational programming through November.

Upcoming Online Learning

Webinar | Real Estate - Benefits of Combining Public and Private Allocations 
Presented by Janus Henderson Investors
10 a.m. CST on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020
Qualifies for 1 credit hour for Basic or Advanced Trustee Training in Investments.

Webinar | Taking Stock of Your Advisory Relationship: Outsource CIO, Consultants, and the Market
Presented by PFM LLC, PNC Capital Advisors, & CBIZ Inc.
10 a.m. CST on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020
Qualifies for 1 credit hour for Basic or Advanced Trustee Training in Investments.

Webinar | (Topic to be Determined)
Presented by HPS Investment Partners
10 a.m. CST on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020
Qualifies for 1 credit hour for Basic or Advanced Trustee Training in Investments.

Registration Information

Active links above mean a webinar is open for registration. TEXPERS will email registration details for future webinars to system members as they become available. Also, the association's website, blog, and social media pages will be updated with links to sign up for each online session.

Mandated Training Hours

Texas law requires the Pension Review Board to establish a Minimum Educational Training Program for trustees and system administrators of state and local public retirement systems. The PRB's Minimum Educational Training requirements include core and non-core topic areas. New trustees and administrators must earn a minimum of 7 hours of training within their first year of service. Continuing trustees and administrators must receive a minimum of 4 hours of training every two years after their first year of service. 

TEXPERS is offering credit training hours for core and non-core topics. New trustees and administrators needing additional first-year training may do so online through the PRB's website.

>ADDITIONAL TRAINING: Pension Review Board MET Info

Webinar Replays

In May, TEXPERS hosted Controlled Acceleration: Using Derivatives to Manage Pension Plan Risk, Return & Liquidity. Sponsored by TEXPERS Consultant Member River and Mercantile, the webinar is accessible through the association's blog.

>WEBINAR REPLAY: Controlled Acceleration

In July, TEXPERS hosted COVID-19: Impact on a Pension Plan's Liquidity. Also sponsored by TEXPERS Consultant Member River and Mercantile, a replay of the webinar is accessible through the association's blog.

>WEBINAR REPLAY: Impact of COVID-19 on Liquidity

Pension system trustees and administrators cannot receive credit hours for watching the replays. The replays are for on-demand professional development purposes only.

Membership Matters

TEXPERS has spent three decades providing high-quality training for its members, expanding awareness of public pension issues, and advocating for the promised benefits of public employees. TEXPERS' staff and board members are proud to offer trustees and administrators new ways to build their pension knowledge, which make its members more valuable to their funds and stakeholders.

Not a member of TEXPERS? Any Texas public employee retirement system and employee group or association is eligible for a TEXPERS membership immediately. Consultants, actuaries and vendors also are welcome to join at any time, however those applications will require approvals. For TEXPERS' Associate Memberships, there are a limited number of openings available. Once an application has been approved and an opening has become available, a TEXPERS staff member will follow up.

> JOIN TEXPERS: Membership information

 About the Author:

TEXPERS' 2017 Summer Forum will be held Aug. 13-15 in San Antonio, Texas. Register today: www.texpers.org.