ATLANTA, GEORGIA-January 9, 2004-On January 14, 2004, insurance and financial services companies throughout the world will celebrate the educational achievements of their employees. This recognition is part of LOMA Education Day, an event that is organized by LOMA, a global provider of professional development programs for insurance and financial services employees.

Since it first announced it was sponsoring LOMA Education Day last spring, excitement about the event has been building among the industry globally and especially LOMA’s more than 1,250 members. Many companies have planned special activities to recognize their employees’ educational accomplishments as part of this celebration. The last time LOMA sponsored a similar event, some companies literally involved every inch of the company in the celebration – spelling out "FLMI", one of LOMA’s premier designations, in lights on their office towers.

"LOMA Education Day recognizes not just the time and effort of the more than 800,000 people that have used LOMA’s programs to improve themselves and their ability to serve their company and their customers but all of the members of the financial services community that have taken advantage of industry programs to perform better and deliver better service," said Thomas P. Donaldson, FLMI, CLU, president and CEO of LOMA. "This is an opportunity for us all to celebrate something good about our industry, namely the dedication and commitment of our employees and their recognition of the value of a lifetime of continuing education."

LOMA anticipates great participation during LOMA Education Day 2004 as recent program developments for its members including more broad based financial services courses and the translation of many of its programs into Bahasa, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese have created development opportunities for individuals and companies worldwide that didn’t exist during its last celebration.