The pension industry is facing a paradigm shift: longevity, labor market transformation, and the technological revolution are forcing a rethink not only of how much workers must save, but also of how their assets are invested and, above all, how they are converted into income capable of sustaining them through longer retirement periods.
That was one of the main conclusions of the first day of Encuentro Amafore 2026, where national and international specialists agreed that the future of pension systems will depend on their ability to adapt to a reality in which living longer will be increasingly common, yet also more costly from a financial standpoint.
The challenge takes on particular relevance for Mexico, where the Retirement Savings System (SAR) already manages more than 9.3T pesos (around $509B), an asset pool that represents an opportunity to strengthen pensions, expand financing for productive projects, and contribute to economic growth, always under criteria of profitability, security, and fiduciary responsibility.
The discussion began with a warning about what could become humanity’s next major revolution. David Sinclair, a Harvard scientist specializing in longevity, anticipated that following artificial intelligence, the next major shift will be tied to extending healthy lifespans, driven by scientific and technological advances.
The consequence extends far beyond medicine: if people live longer and retain their physical and intellectual capacities for more years, they will also have to modify their career, financial, and wealth decisions. In other words, retirement systems designed for a shorter life expectancy will have to respond to a completely different reality.
The problem, therefore, is not limited to getting workers to accumulate more money during their working lives. It will also be necessary to ensure that those resources last to finance a retirement that could span several decades. Matthew Michelini, President of Athene, placed the emphasis precisely on that transition: pension systems must stop treating accumulation and decumulation as independent processes.
His proposition is that investment strategies must factor in from the outset how savings will be transformed into income during retirement. “Accumulation and decumulation strategies have to be combined,” he argued, warning that the true challenge lies in designing solutions that allow pension wealth to be converted into a sufficient and sustainable source of income.
Yet before thinking about how to spend accumulated resources, another obstacle stands in the way: keeping them invested for the necessary duration. David Laibson, behavioral economist and Harvard professor, pointed out that mechanisms such as automatic enrollment and automatic contributions help foster saving, though they lose effectiveness when workers make early withdrawals or face immediate financial needs.
For Mexico, the specialist deemed it necessary to develop instruments that protect long-term savings and allow informal workers to be brought into the fold. To that end, digital payment platforms could become a tool to broaden participation and facilitate contributions to the pension system.
The other major discussion of the gathering centered on the destination of pension assets and their capacity to become an investment lever for the country.
With more than 9.3T pesos under management, the SAR represents one of Mexico’s largest pools of institutional savings. María del Carmen…
