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56
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years building partnerships with US public plans
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United States, Institutional
Change
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148
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US public plan clients
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70%
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of the top 20 US public plans partner with us
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USD 62 B
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US public plan assets entrusted to us
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How we work with public plans
Researchers
We put ourselves in plan sponsors' shoes and conduct timely, relevant asset allocation analysis.
Allocators
We draw on a wide range of investments, including equity, fixed income, real asset, liquid alternative, private, and opportunistic strategies.
Portfolio managers
We serve as a fiduciary for strategies in every asset class, including custom solutions to client objectives.
Strategic partners
We collaborate with plan sponsors on their goals across their organization.
Meet our Public Plan experts
Adam Berger, CFA
Multi-Asset Strategist
Our public plan research is led by Adam Berger, Multi-Asset Strategist. He develops research from an allocator’s perspective, advises clients and prospects on a range of investment policy and governance issues, and serves as the portfolio manager for bespoke multi-manager investment solutions. In this role, he meets regularly with plan sponsors and shares his latest thinking in his quarterly Top of Mind webcast, as well as a wide range of articles and white papers. Click here to learn more about his research.
Amy Morse, CFA
Director of Pension Strategies and Relationship Manager
As director of Pension Strategies, Amy is responsible for identifying, sharing, and acting on major trends in the pension marketplace. She works closely with various groups across Wellington to ensure that the firm is positioned to be a go-to resource and provide solutions to public DB plans. Amy also serves as a relationship manager for our public DB plan clients, helping to bring to bear our full range of resources and services on their behalf. These services include assisting with long-term investment strategy and policy issues, evaluating portfolio risks and performance, and ensuring compliance with policy guidelines and applicable regulations.
top 10 ideas for public pensions in 2026
Adam and Amy share their top portfolio ideas for navigating today’s markets.
- Since long-term returns may be lower going forward, consider the role of alpha in portfolios.
- After the runaway success of the 60/40 portfolio, this may be a good time to diversify beyond stocks and bonds.
- Consider incorporating ideas from the “Total Portfolio Approach” (TPA), such as using a reference portfolio and breaking down asset-class silos.
- There is growing interest in extension (e.g., 140/40) strategies, particularly given their potential to generate strong alpha even in concentrated markets.
- Portable alpha is also an area of focus among investors seeking uncorrelated returns.
- As an alternative to passive, consider “core 2.0” strategies — factor-based strategies that are disciplined in how they use their risk budget and manage factor risk.
- Inflation could change stock/bond correlations, so ensure you have exposures that could protect your portfolio against future market volatility.
- Hedge funds may fill this role and can help stabilize equity portfolios when valuations are high.
- More generally, the economic and market backdrop looks to be more favorable for hedge funds.
- Also, take a look at the real asset space and make a plan for potential inflation ahead.
- While many are focused on market concentration and the risk of an AI bubble, our research suggests the current cycle may have legs into 2026 and possibly beyond.
- Be careful about a structural underweight to technology. If that one bet dominates the active risk in your portfolio, consider reducing that sector risk and seeking more diversified sources of active risk. Strategies discussed in idea #2 above could help here.
- While the cycle may continue longer, patient investors could find this an attractive entry point for approaches that have been out of favor.
- Defensive equities, for example, may lag technology for a time but they have a role to play in a portfolio and could outperform over the long term.
- We saw strong evidence in 2025 that emerging markets and developed markets outside the US can outperform.
- If you do worry about the cycle reversing, it’s a good time to plan for how you would behave and what you would look for in a major sell-off.
- Stress testing and scenario analysis can help gauge the need for hedging or adjustments to current allocations.
- Increase portfolio dynamism, especially in fixed income, where total-return-oriented, opportunistic, and multisector strategies could help.
- We believe rising global economic dispersion makes this a good opportunity for tactical asset allocation and other macro strategies.
- This could benefit multi-strategy, macro, and equity long/short hedge funds, as well as extension strategies.
- CLO equity may offer attractive returns and income in a variety of credit environments.
- Late-stage growth can offer access to innovative tech-related companies that need capital to keep growing.
- The private credit market offers a broader opportunity set than many investors realize.
- On one hand, we worry about overexuberance in the space, which has not experienced a major recession or default cycle and is increasingly tied to the AI trade (but perhaps not with the same upside).
- On the other hand, history suggests credit events are less likely when liquidity is ample, as it is today with Fed easing and still-generous fiscal support.
- We think investment-grade private credit and private real estate credit are worth a closer look.
- We are seeing a wide range of investment use cases.
- As adoption grows across the economy, AI is poised to give productivity and growth a meaningful boost.
Research Spotlight: US public pensions on the move
Our public pension experts share their latest research on asset allocation trends and what they could mean for plans’ ability to hit their return targets. They also offer their top investment ideas for putting plans on a better path forward.
Check out ADAM'S latest insights
Showing
of
Insights Posts
Article
14 min
The long and short (term) of markets
Head of Multi-Asset Strategy Adam Berger offers a four-part plan for short-term volatility and looks at the longer-term implications of shifting capital market expectations.
14 min
Article
2027-01-01
Article
10 min
Lessons learned from a top-heavy equity market
Can the Magnificent Seven stocks continue to dominate the equity market? And what can asset owners do when markets are narrow? Head of Multi-Asset Strategy Adam Berger and Global Equity Strategist Andy Heiskell discuss the challenges and opportunities.
10 min
Article
2026-04-30
Whitepaper
12 min
When will capital come back to private equity?
Head of Multi-Asset Strategy Adam Berger and Head of Late-Stage Growth Matt Witheiler consider the state of the private equity market, including liquidity challenges, the effects of higher interest rates, late-stage opportunities, and the impact of AI.
12 min
Whitepaper
2026-03-31
Article
15 min
The allocator’s checklist for 2025 and beyond
Head of Multi-Asset Strategy Adam Berger offers near- and longer-term ideas for allocators, including thoughts on alternatives, potential market surprises, and risk management.
15 min
Article
2026-01-30
Article
6 min
Three performance drivers could help hedge funds rev up returns
Alex King and Adam Berger, members of our Investment Strategy & Solutions Group, explain why we're at a turning point for economic and market conditions that could benefit hedge funds and make them a potentially valuable addition to a multi-asset portfolio.
6 min
Article
2025-12-31
Article
Alternative Investment Outlook
This collection provides timely ideas across the spectrum of alternative investments -- including hedge funds, private equity, and private credit.
Article
2025-12-31
Article
15 min
A guide to investing in the age of anxiety
There's a long list of issues worrying asset owners, from geopolitical risk to high valuations. To help, Head of Multi-Asset Strategy Adam Berger offers coping tips for an uncomfortable investment backdrop and a world where investing rules of thumb may be broken.
15 min
Article
2025-12-01
Whitepaper
15 min
“Goldilocks” and the three drivers of hedge fund outperformance
Members of our Investment Strategy & Solutions Group explain why shifting economic conditions may bode well for hedge funds broadly but also see reasons that manager selection may be more important than ever.
15 min
Whitepaper
2026-11-30
URL References
Related Insights
Key capabilities
Alternatives
We leverage in-depth research, specialized teams, and our firm’s scale and resources to develop alternative investment solutions to clients’ evolving needs — including a broad range of hedge funds and private investment strategies.
Equity
Our actively managed equity approaches span disciplines, geographies, industries, market capitalizations, and styles in order to meet our clients’ objectives.
Fixed income
From broad market solutions to strategies based on specific duration, geographic, or sector parameters, we have the capabilities to help meet our clients’ needs.
Private investing
Our Private Investing teams offer differentiated solutions across sectors by drawing on their backgrounds as entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, and more, and garnering insights from our public market experts to harness value across all company growth stages.
- Director of Pension Strategies and Relationship Manager
Let’s talk public plan strategy
To learn more about how we can help public plans pursue their investment objectives, please contact us.
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