Inaugural LIMRA LOMA Latin American Retirement Conference Focuses on Successful Models for Retirement Savings Programs within Region

WINDSOR, Conn., April 4 -- LIMRA issued the following news release:

Carlos Gomez, senior fellow and board member, International Center for Pension Reform, will present at the inaugural LIMRA LOMA Latin American Retirement Conference on May 4-5, 2017, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Gomez will give an overview of Chile's current retirement system and discuss lessons learned that helped Chile successfully accumulate and invest $220 billion, 80 percent of Chile's GDP, that fund managers invested in the expansion and modernization of companies in both Chile and abroad.

According to LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute research, only 15 percent of Latin American pre-retirees and eight percent of retirees are using individual retirement investment accounts (IRAs) to fund retirement. But due to the success of its new pension system, Chile's per capita income has increased six-fold, from $4,000 in 1975 to $24,000 in 2016.

"The world is quickly becoming a super-aged society, and current retirement planning is insufficient on a status-quo basis," said Thad Burr, director, business planning and information, LIMRA and LOMA International Operations. "This conference offers a chance to debate, learn and react profitably to this changing panorama."

The conference will provide an overview of both U.S. and Latin American markets with sessions featuring:

Alison Salka, Ph.D., senior vice president and director of research, LIMRA, covering the defined contribution system in the U.S. market

Hernan Perez Raffo, partner, Estudio Price Waterhouse & Co., providing an overview of the Argentinian market

Humberto Topete Campos, director of operations and services, Asociacion Mexicana de Afores, providing an overview of the Mexican market

Other speakers include Jose Maria Fanelli, Ph.D., professor, University of San Andres & the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), and Augusto Iglesias Palau, partner, PrimAmerica Consultores.

The 2017 LIMRA LOMA Latin American Retirement Conference has been organized in partnership with AVIRA (Asociacion de Aseguradores de Vida y Retiro de la Republica Argentina), in response to the great interest and requests from financial service executives looking to receive more information related to voluntary savings programs--particularly the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned from countries that are currently offering this system.

Members of the press are welcome to attend the event at no cost. Please email media contacts below for more details. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.limra.com/LARETIREMENT/.