Balancing Short-Term Risks and Long-Term Plans: Inside the 2026 Public Pension Funding Forum
By: Matt Eckel, Director of Research, NCPERS
Markets do not pause for committee meetings. Tariff policy is rewriting trade relationships in real time. Artificial intelligence has driven trillions in market capitalization on the promise of a productivity revolution, with no consensus yet on whether that promise holds or whether the sector is building toward a correction. For public pension funds managing decades-long liabilities, this is the environment in which long-term discipline gets tested.
The 2026 NCPERS Public Pension Funding Forum, taking place August 17 to 19 at the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago, is designed around that challenge. The program brings together economists, investment professionals, legal scholars, and plan leaders to examine the full landscape of risks and opportunities facing public pension funds right now, and to think seriously about what it means to hold a long-term course when short-term pressures are this intense.
The agenda covers a wide range of topics: macroeconomic analysis of tariff policy and trade uncertainty; an honest look at what the AI investment boom means for market valuations; the evolving regulatory landscape for digital assets; private equity’s expanding role in both institutional portfolios and the health care sector; and emerging frameworks like the total portfolio approach that challenge traditional asset allocation thinking. The centerpiece of the afternoon is a panel featuring Thomas Lee, Timothy Reese, and Joseph Salazar, three senior leaders from major public pension funds who will discuss how their systems are maintaining investment discipline under sustained pressure.
The Forum will also feature the second annual Pension Lab: NextGen Competition, NCPERS’ partnership with the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Graduate student teams have spent months developing innovative, policy-driven proposals for sustainable pension funding, working alongside experienced pension professional mentors. This year’s competition has attracted multiple teams with rigorous, creative proposals, continuing to build what we hope becomes a lasting pipeline of serious new thinking about public retirement finance. Attendees will vote alongside the expert panel to select the winning team, who will go on to a research internship with NCPERS and the opportunity to publish their work.
Staying the course does not mean standing still. It means having the analytical foundation and institutional resolve to make sound decisions when the environment is anything but settled. The 2026 Forum is built around that premise. We hope to see you in Chicago.
Registration is open now, with early-bird pricing available through July 20. To plan your experience, view the full agenda and registration details.