With recent well-publicized data breaches impacting pension systems and their retirees nationally, as well as increased Department of Labor scrutiny surrounding cybersecurity policies and procedures implemented by ERISA employee benefit plan fiduciaries upon audit, the topic of cybersecurity risk management is even more top of mind for pension plan administrators.In this episode of Pensions, Benefits & Investments Briefings, Ashley Dunning and Michelle McCarthy welcome Peter Dewar, President of Linea Secure, and Amy Timmons, Senior Vice President of Administration & Technology Consulting at Segal, to discuss pension systems’ cybersecurity risk management and the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), social engineering and “whaling,” as well as best practices and lessons learned with respect to pension systems’ cybersecurity risk management.

The first half of 2023 has seen three bank failures, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank. In 2008–the last time multiple FDIC-insured banks failed–the collapse of the economy and massive bank reform followed.In this episode of Pensions, Benefits & Investments Briefings, Yuliya Oryol and Patrick Richard discuss risk management lessons for directors and officers to be drawn from these recent events. Were the challenges facing these banks unique, or are the risks more prevalent?

Congress recently passed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. Building on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, SECURE 2.0 attempts to expand retirement plan coverage and increase retirement savings opportunities for United States workers. In this episode of Pensions, Benefits & Investments Briefings, Michelle McCarthy and Ashley Dunning discuss the key provisions of SECURE 2.0 most likely to impact 401(k) and 403(b) plans sponsored by large private-sector employers and also touch upon a few of the provisions that will impact 401(a) plans administered by governmental retirement systems.

On February 15, 2023, changes to Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 4 will be effective, and defined benefit plans will need to comply with these new rules in all actuarial funding valuations with measurement dates after the effective date. In the latest episode of Public Pensions & Investments Briefings, Ashley Dunning welcomes Graham Schmidt, an actuary with Cheiron, and Todd Tauzer, an actuary with Segal, who explain three significant changes arising from the new ASOP and discuss some of the implications of those changes.

Institutional investors and other limited partners are often told they must accept certain terms and provisions in alternative investment fund documents because such terms “are market.” Who is responsible for creating these market terms and what can investors do to prevent undesirable deal terms from becoming the market standard? In this episode of Public Pensions & Investments Briefings, Courtney Krause discusses unusual provisions in alternative fund documents, including limited partnership agreements, side letters and subscription documents. Courtney explores how market terms are created, provides examples of non-standard terms, and discusses how investors can work to keep these seemingly one-off provisions from becoming market standard in the future.

Ransomware and other cybersecurity attacks have made national headlines during the past 12 months, and public pension systems are as susceptible to these attacks as any other organization. In this episode of Public Pensions & Investments Briefings, Thomas Dover and Ashley Dunning discuss the protections public pension plans can put in place today to ensure these kinds of data privacy attacks are kept at bay. They also discuss other intellectual property issues every public pension plan administrator should be aware of in order to maintain the health of their organization.

Infrastructure investment, whether through direct investments in specific projects or through commingled funds, is an attractive asset class for public pension systems and other institutional investors. In this episode of Public Pensions & Investments Briefings, Yuliya Oryol, Andrée Blais and Shant Boyajian introduce you to public-private partnerships (P3s) and alternative delivery methods for infrastructure projects. In addition to P3 projects in the U.S., they also discuss other countries, such as Canada, that have a more developed and mature market for investing in infrastructure projects by public pension systems and other institutional investors. Yuliya, Andrée and Shant also discuss the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan, which should open up investment opportunities for institutional investors.

All public pension plans need a well-crafted fiduciary liability insurance policy. This should include ample coverage, including protection against the risk of impending litigation. The recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in favor of the San Joaquin County Employees’ Retirement Association (“SJCERA”) in its case against Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (“Travelers”) highlights the importance of understanding what to include in your insurance policy. The court found that Travelers had been in breach of contract and granted declaratory relief arising out of Travelers' denial of coverage under the duty-to-defend clause in SJCERA’s fiduciary liability insurance policy. In this episode of Public Pensions & Investments Briefings, Ashley Dunning and Jim Vorhis review this significant decision and explore what lessons may be drawn from that litigation as public retirement systems consider how to get the most out of their fiduciary liability and other insurance policies going forward.

In this episode of Public Pensions & Investments Briefings, Nossaman Public Pensions & Investments Group Partner Peter Mixon and Institutional Limited Partners Association Senior Policy Counsel Chris Hayes discuss what impact the Biden administration could have on public pensions. They explore how the new administration may alter investment regulations to align with their key policy initiatives, and how public pension plan investors should approach investing to ensure compliance.