Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC), the independent global wholesale and reinsurance broker, announced plans to expand its Swett & Crawford wholesale brokerage business into the Latin American market.
The growth strategy and investment were announced earlier this month by CGSC Group CEO Toby Esser during a visit to Brazil where he met with some of the country’s insurance brokers.
“CGSC is committed to making a substantial additional investment in the region, and Brazil in particular, over the next two years,” Esser said. As Brazil is the largest insurance market in Latin America, with non-life insurance representing in excess of $37 billion gross written premium, but only accounting for 1.66 percent of GDP, we plan to grow our business substantially by 2017.”
CGSC’s reinsurance broker, Cooper Gay, has an established presence in Latin America with businesses in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. So far, however, the group has not focused on growing its wholesale business market share in the region.
The Brazilian operation will be led by Fabio Basilone, CEO of Cooper Gay do Brasil, who has additionally been appointed CEO of Swett & Crawford Brazil. José Carlos Moraes de Abreu Filho, an executive officer of the Brazilian insurance company Itaú Seguros for more than 28 years, has also been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swett & Crawford Brazil.
Steve Jackson, CEO of CGSC Latin America commented: “The introduction of the Swett & Crawford brand and capabilities to Latin America is a key pillar of CGSC’s future strategic growth in the region. Clearly, this is significant for our Group of businesses, but today’s expansion and investment announcement is also excellent news for the Brazilian and wider Latin American insurance market.
“Swett & Crawford Brazil is now committed to offering a wide portfolio of products and services from partnering insurers. This will, without doubt, contribute to the development of the insurance market throughout the territory.”
Basilone said the firm hopes to “optimize relationships with supporting insurance brokers” by centralizing the business operating structure through a new service center. “This will allow brokers to have access to commercial, technological and operational support, standardized processes and rapid document creation,” he said. “In essence, the service center will create the conditions required for a broker to fully dedicate its business and expertise to sales and agile customer support.”
Source: Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC)
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