Sessions Agenda

2025 Public Funds Forum

The Big Reset: The Fiduciary’s Survival Guide

Sessions Agenda

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

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: Moving from Strength to Strength in Work, Life, and Happiness
Arthur Brooks
Arthur C. Brooks

Harvard Professor
Leadership and Happiness
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Wednesday, September 3, 2025

8:00 am – 9:00 am:

Session 2: Geopolitics and Trade Wars: Risks and Opportunities
Leading commentators share ideas on emerging international tensions, the tariff debate, what to expect, and how to navigate long-term investing in an uncertain new world order.
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy

55th Speaker of the House
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Jennifer Granholm
Jennifer Granholm

U.S. Secretary of Energy,
Former Governor of Michigan (2003–2011)
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Richard A. Bennett

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

9:00 am – 10:00 am:

Session 3: The New Sheriff: Shareowner Rights in the Trump Era
Shareowner rights are being recast with the change of the Administration in Washington. How are changes in ERISA and the SEC affecting the institutional investor? What’s new and what’s coming in the regulatory environment? What tools can pension funds use to protect their portfolios?

10:00 am – 10:15 am:

Networking Break

10:15 am – 11:15 am:

Session 4: Thematic Investing
Pension fiduciaries must continue to provide guaranteed income in an investing world characterized by a revolving series of threats, disruptions, and uncertainties. What strategies are leading investment officers employing for asset allocation? What are the top investment thematics being used for long-term sustainability?

11:15 am – 12:00 pm:

Session 5: Global Investors: Is This the Era of the Corporate Insider?
For a half-century, global investors have relied on the strong governance of U.S. companies and laws protecting investors in U.S. markets. But recent U.S. policy and regulatory shifts are tipping the balance of corporate power sharply in favor of insiders and away from institutional investors. A recognized expert will discuss these dramatic shifts in the U.S. regulatory environment, implications for global institutional investors focused on governance and long-term value, and tools for restoring balance.
Richard A. Bennett

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

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm:

Lunch

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm:

Session 6: A Socratic Conversation on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Michael Sandel
Michael Sandel

Harvard University
Political Philosopher
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2:00 pm – 3:00 pm:
Session 7: Challenges to the American Independent Justice System: Hype or Real Cause for Concern?
A panel of former judges and prosecutors survey the ongoing controversies roiling the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. court system. This panel of U.S. DOJ and judicial veterans discuss their perspectives on the role of independence in the U.S. justice system and the keys to trust and confidence in our justice system.
Darren J Robbins
Darren J. Robbins

Partner
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
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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.

Thursday, September 4, 2025

8:00 am – 9:00 am:

Session 9: Transitions in Power: Succession Planning for Pension Funds
Veteran pension leaders share insights and practical tips for preparing your pension fund for leadership succession, including scoping, recruiting, and onboarding for the chief executive.

9:00 am – 9:45 am:

Session 10: Politics and Pensions: Keeping Fiduciary Focus in a Politicized Era

Public pension systems are subject to various threads of accountability that are in tension.  Public funds are governed by fiduciaries charged by law with duties of loyalty to their beneficiaries and a duty of prudence in maximizing the assets entrusted to them – duties that require a long-term perspective and often short-term pain.  On the other hand, they are accountable to their members, the public, and oversight from elected officials and policymakers.  Recently, public funds have faced a range of policy and political challenges ranging from restrictions on ESG considerations, to suggestions to divest from Israeli investments, to legal limits on DEI considerations, to efforts to compel pension systems to “nearshore” more investments, to scrutiny on private equity investments.  Our panel of experienced fund leaders will discuss how experienced fiduciaries can balance public accountability with fiduciary duties to maximize returns for their members, and how to build trust with stakeholders when facing challenging issues in a low-trust environment.

9:45 am – 10:00 am:

Networking Break

10:00 am – 11:00 am:

Session 11: Treasurers’ Roundtable: Trends in Governance and Investing
In a world of disruption, a panel of State Treasurers discuss emerging issues in the capital markets, asset allocation strategies, and other hot topics in public finance.

11:00 am – 12:00 pm:

Session 12: Lessons of Leadership
With his contagious enthusiasm and indomitable athletic talent, Rob Gronkowski has transcended NFL superstardom to become a fixture of the modern pop culture lexicon. One of the best tight ends the game has ever seen, Gronk’s success on the field has not been without challenges. With wit and wisdom, he shares his stories of perseverance through injuries and hard-fought recoveries, his four Super Bowl victories, and how best to overcome challenges and succeed.
Rob_Gronkowski
Rob Gronkowski

Four-Time Super Bowl Champion
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12:00 pm – 12:10 pm:

Closing Remarks

12:30 pm – 5:30 pm:

Networking Activities: Trap Shooting, Whitewater Rafting, Guided Hiking, and Chocolate Academy

2025 Public Funds Forum

Montage Deer Valley
Park City, Utah
September 2-4, 2025

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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.