SB977 amends Section 802.205 of the Government Code to allow public employee retirement plans to contract with brokerage firms for investment and custodial services, and specifies the required qualifications. This bill validates a contract with a brokerage firm for the custody of assets of a public retirement system that was entered into before the effective date of this bill as being in compliance with the law. The bill, if enacted, will have no anticipated actuarial effect because it does not propose to change the funding or obligations of any public retirement system.