NEW ORLEANS, LA – September 30, 2009 – Pan-American Life Insurance Group (PALIG), a leading provider of insurance and financial services, announced today that the company has filed a request for authorization to enter the Costa Rican Market.
“Pan-American Life’s 98-year history and the Group’s experience throughout Latin America have played a fundamental role in this business development decision. Expansion into Costa Rica is a natural step that supports the company’s geographic expansion and regional strategic plan,” said José S. Suquet, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Pan-American Life. “As an insurance industry leader in the region, ranked number 1 by collective market share in life and health insurance, entry into Costa Rica will complete our total coverage in the region - while underscoring our commitment to Central America.”
Costa Rica’s insurance market recently approved a new law authorizing private competition. It is currently Central America’s second largest insurance market behind Panama, where Pan-American Life has had operations since 1912. Pan-American Life also has offices and affiliates in Honduras (1944), Guatemala (1914) and El Salvador (1911); and a strategic alliance with a leading insurance provider in Nicaragua to accommodate multinational clients.
“The Costa Rican insurance market is ready for substantial expansion,” said Eugenio Magdalena, Executive Vice President of International Markets, Pan-American Life. “The growth potential is overwhelmingly evident when considering that Costa Rica’s close neighboring personal insurance market, Panama, is almost four times greater in terms of premiums, even though both countries per capita GNP are similar, with Costa Rica roughly having one million people more than Panama.”
Upon receipt of authorization from the Superintendencia General de Seguros - Costa Rica’s equivalent of the Insurance Commissioner’s Office, Pan-American Life has plans for preparation and filing of a customized portfolio of products, including individual life and health insurance, as well as group life, accident and health insurance.