Sessions Agenda

2026 Public Funds Forum

Sessions Agenda

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

6:00 pm – 6:15 pm:

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Speaker: Richard A. Bennett

Richard A. Bennett

President & Chief Executive Officer
ValueEdge Advisors LLC
Click here for complete biography

6:15 pm – 7:15 pm:

Session 1: Keynote

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

8:00 am – 9:00 am:

Session 2: The Global Reset: Shifting Sands of International Alliances
With the upheaval of the post-war international order underway, new political and economic alliances are emerging. U.S. assertions in the Americas. Canada’s new alliance of the “middle powers.” Resurgence of Japan. What are the implications for the global investor?

9:00 am – 10:00 am:

Session 3: American Schism: Scenario Planning for Pension Funds
Dramatic regulatory changes, political volatility, and the consolidation of authority is creating new rules and evolving risks for domestic investors, as well as energetic pushback. What is the outlook near-term for the capital markets? What alternative scenarios are presented by the midterm elections?

10:00 am – 10:15 am:

Networking Break

10:15 am – 11:15 am:

Session 4: The Next Frontier: System-Level Investing
To maximize returns while minimizing risk, investors need to consider the interplay and interdependencies between their investments, the real economy, and the complex challenges of our environmental, social, and financial systems. System-level investing does just that. How can your pension fund benefit from this new approach?

11:15 am – 12:00 pm:

Session 5: Developments in Securities Litigation
Veteran securities lawyers review emerging trends in protecting fund value through litigation. What your fund should know.

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm:

Lunch

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm:

Session 6: Keynote

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm:
Session 7: Minding the Managers: Active Ownership Strategies Beyond Voting
How to participate and communicate as owners in the capital markets. How to work with and through asset managers and when to engage directly with portfolio companies.

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm:

Session 8: In-Depth Breakout Sessions

1: General Counsel Roundtable – The evolving role of the pension plan’s legal office.

2: The Art of the Chair – Seasoned pension chairs share insights on effective governance.

3: Upsides and Downsides in Private Equity

Thursday, September 10, 2026

8:00 am – 9:00 am:

Session 9: Best Practices in Fund Governance
Experienced pension leaders share experience in fund management and oversight, including board-executive relations, asset allocation strategies, benefit administration, and legal practices.

9:00 am – 9:45 am:

Session 10: AI for Investors
AI’s impact across all sectors has led to extraordinary gains, but volatility is increasing as realities settle in. With AI in the driver’s seat for much of the market, what are the risk and return scenarios?

9:45 am – 10:00 am:

Networking Break

10:00 am – 11:00 am:

Session 11: Treasurers’ Roundtable: Tips and Takeaways
State Treasurers reflect on topics and key takeaways from the Forum.

11:00 am – 12:00 pm:

Session 12: Keynote

12:00 pm – 12:10 pm:

Closing Remarks

12:30 pm – 5:30 pm:

Networking Activities: Extreme Chef Cook-Off, Whale Watching, Hiking, Electric Bikes

2026 PUBLIC FUNDS FORUM

Montage
Laguna Beach, California
September 8-10, 2026

Register
Public Funds Forum

Richard A. Bennett | President & Chief Executive Officer, ValueEdge Advisors LLC

Richard A. Bennett is President and CEO of ValueEdge Advisors, a firm he founded in summer 2014 to help institutional investors engage with their portfolio companies. From 2006 he was CEO and then Chairman of GMI Ratings and its predecessor, The Corporate Library, a globally recognized investment research firm specializing in corporate governance and ESG with offices in London, New York, San Diego, and Portland, Maine. In August 2014, GMI Ratings was sold to MSCI.

He worked as Director of Corporate Governance for LENS, an institutional activist fund, from 1997 to 2002. He served from 2004 to 2016 as a non-executive director of Trucost, Plc, a U.K.- based firm offering products and services that allow companies, governments, and fund managers to better understand their environmental performance. From 2009 to 2014, he served on the Board of Governors of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), and currently serves on the ICGN Nominating Committee. He is an independent director of Biddeford Internet Corporation d/b/a GWI (an ISP and telecom business), Atlantic Trust (Maine) (a fiduciary trust company), and Quoddy Inc. (a footwear brand enterprise).

Mr. Bennett has an extensive background in politics and government service as well as a wide range of private sector experience. A former president of the Maine State Senate, Mr. Bennett served four terms in the Maine Senate and two terms in the state's House of Representatives. From 2013 to 2017, he was Chairman of the Maine Republican Party and a member of the Republican National Committee. In 2014, he volunteered as a member of the MainePERS ESG Integration Task Force.

Directorship magazine has recognized Mr. Bennett six times in its annual list of the 100 "most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom." In December 2010, he was named by Global Proxy Watch as one of the "10 people around the world who had the most impact on corporate governance in the previous year."

Mr. Bennett was a member of the board of trustees of Hebron Academy from 2010 to 2019. He was a member of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships from 2005 to 2009. He graduated with honors from Harvard College in 1986 and received his M.B.A. from the University of Southern Maine in 2000.