A TEXPERS reading list for public pension leaders
Every title on this list is a 2026 publication, selected for a practical connection to public employee retirement systems—from fiduciary judgment and investing to actuarial work, cyber risk, AI governance, administration, and professional leadership.
A field guide, not a syllabus
Begin with the decision in front of you. Pair one technical title with one broader book on governance, markets, or leadership, then bring a question—not just a summary—back to the board table. Four titles scheduled for release later in 2026 are clearly marked.
The public trust
250 Years of Law and Governance
More than 50 legal scholars examine the pressures facing American law, markets, civic culture, and governing institutions. It gives public pension leaders a wider frame for accountability, legitimacy, and public trust.
Human strengths for leading effectively in the age of AI
A behavioral-science playbook for making wise choices, inspiring performance, and building resilience. Its tools for tradeoffs, collaboration, feedback, and uncertainty translate directly to the boardroom.
Turn resistance into collaboration and commitment
Conger reframes persuasion as a transparent leadership practice. The focus on influence networks, credible evidence, listening, and coalition building is especially useful when trustees, staff, sponsors, and stakeholders see a decision differently.
New laws of leadership for a complex workplace
Three experienced executives offer practical counsel on leadership, workplace power, bias, resilience, and bringing others along. It is a useful prompt for stronger professional networks and more intentional leadership pipelines.
The portfolio
How irrationality creates opportunity—and risk
A rigorous, accessible account of why investors overreact, underreact, and misread noise. It equips investment committees to recognize bias without pretending that market behavior is fully predictable.
The bond market that built the modern world
A sweeping history of bonds as the financial architecture behind governments, infrastructure, markets, and crises. It gives trustees a memorable foundation for discussing rates, credit, sovereign debt, and fixed-income risk.
The first global financial crisis and its long aftermath
Ahamed traces how bond-market expansion, speculation, government borrowing, defaults, and policy mistakes produced a worldwide downturn. The historical distance makes present-day risk conversations sharper, not safer.
Why socially responsible investment doesn’t work—and how to fix it
A pointed challenge to claims that sustainable investing automatically improves both returns and social outcomes. Trustees need not accept every conclusion to benefit from testing mandates, evidence, tradeoffs, and accountability.
The pension promise
New Lessons from Behavioral Research
The newest Pension Research Council volume examines how people actually save, invest, and spend around retirement. It helps plan leaders connect benefit policy and member communication to evidence about real behavior.
Applications and Case Studies from Finance and Insurance
A technical bridge between actuarial work and AI applications in finance and insurance. It can help trustees and administrators ask where predictive tools add value—and where assumptions, explainability, validation, and professional judgment remain essential.
Fundamentals of Actuarial Practice Course · First Edition
A Society of Actuaries collection showing how actuarial principles are applied in everyday practice. At 695 pages, it is a reference shelf rather than a quick read—and a strong way to deepen questions about methods, assumptions, risk, and communication.
The operating system
Principles, Practices, and Frameworks
A field-tested guide to evaluating controls across internal systems, cloud infrastructure, application development, and vendor ecosystems. It gives boards a concrete map for audit scope, evidence, reporting, and remediation.
Framework, Principles, and Practices
A governance-focused treatment of trustworthy, transparent, secure AI. It addresses bias, data misuse, adversarial threats, auditability, privacy, and controls for organizations operating in high-stakes environments.
Building a Program for Oversight and Strategy
A board-ready guide for building oversight around principles, responsibility, intelligence, security, and monitoring. It connects AI strategy to existing cybersecurity, risk-management, and accountability structures.
Cut Through the Hype. Use AI. Build Skills. Thrive at Work.
A plain-language, hype-resistant guide to using AI as an assistant rather than an authority. It is an approachable starting point for staff experimentation, verification habits, and realistic expectations about productivity.
The 2026 charge
Markets change. Technology changes. The pension promise does not. Build the shared language and habits that keep long-term stewardship strong when the environment gets noisy.
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