FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Retirement Finance in Asia
Focus of High-Level Study Mission
Sponsored by the Asia Society and Asset International
May 12-19, 1999

The study mission will be co-chaired by Marshall N. Carter, Chairman and CEO, State Street Bank and Trust Company; Stuart H. Leckie, Executive Director, The Employee Benefits Forum for China; and Alice Young, Chair, Asia Pacific Practice, Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler LLP.

Taking part in the six-day mission will be business executives from the U.S. financial community comprising global money managers, insurance companies foundation representatives and investment consultants.

The mission will provide participants with a unique perspective on Asia's developing retirement finance plans, including macro-level issues that influence policy and shape the pension paradigm, such as social, political and economic elements of savings and how important a finite pension policy is to China's economy. Micro-level issues that pertain to the mechanics of implementing successful pension policies, such as investment management, brokerage, and banking skills, and the regulatory practices necessary to run institutional investments efficiently and effectively, will be covered as well. In each venue, participants will also examine the manner in which foreign capital is responding to investment opportunities, either through new product development or financial sector reforms.

High-level meetings and discussions to be held in each city with government leaders, business executives, economists and pension policy experts will further increase participants' understanding of the evolving pension systems and potential investment opportunities.

On their return to the United States, a report on retirement finance in Asia will be published in conjunction with Asset International. The report's authors will be Charles A. Ruffel, Chief Executive Officer, Asset International, and Editor-in-Chief, Plan Sponsor and Global Custodian magazines, and Meredith Hughes, Vice President, Asset International. Upon completion of the report, the Asia Society will present the study mission's findings and recommendations to broader audiences in programs throughout the U.S. and in Asia.

Asia Society is America's leading nonprofit, nonpartisan public education organization to broaden understanding of Asia and of U.S.-Asia relations. Through quality programs, including conferences, symposia, international study missions, press briefings, publications, art exhibitions and performing arts productions, the Society reaches out to a broad range of professionals and citizens interested in foreign affairs, business and culture. Asia Society is headquartered in New York, with regional centers in Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Melbourne, and representative offices in Seattle, San Francisco, Shanghai and Manila. Asia Society is on the World Wide Web (www.asiasociety.org).