The Australian Group QBE Insurance, which has presence in Colombia for a decade, advances an expansion plan in the Colombian market that includes the launch of new lines of business and the acquisition of other companies.

The world president of QBE, John Neal, told Portafolio that Colombia is the second country for the company in the region (after Argentina).

"It is a good country to be, because it has a stable economy, a market well-regulated, and it is one of the most profitable."

The idea, according to the manager, is to replicate in the country part of the experience that gives them be a global group. Currently operating in general insurance, where the main product is the SOAT and the coverage of government buildings.

Now, according Neal explains, will focus on serving the corporate line, which includes providing solutions to medium and large companies particularly multinationals, and is strong in the next three years.

As to agricultural insurance, which offer in other countries, consider that Colombia is more difficult because of the weather and because more direct state presence is needed.

The other plea of growth will be acquisitions and therefore are looking for companies in Colombia and other countries in the region, enabling them to grow in terms of distribution channels and help them enter segments which do not operate.

Latin America currently accounts for 8 percent of group revenues, and weighs twice as Asia. "Our goal is to double the size of the business in the region over the next five years," Neal said.

A BUSINESS IN FOUR CONTINENTS

QBE is of Australian origin and operates in over 40 countries in America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Latin America is the fourth largest market after North America, Europe and Australia.

John Neal, president of the group, said that the past five years "have been a challenging time, but certainly insurers have been less affected than banks. The impact has been on the side of lower investment returns and so the challenge has been carefully design the product prices and the challenge is being more and more careful with investments and advance technological development.

Last year, issued premiums nearly 18,000 millions of dollars and in Latin America totaled 1.380 million. In Colombia premiums were issued last year by more than 242 million of dollars, and other plans to increase loans is expanding its presence in the country.

Source: http://m.portafolio.co/negocios/adquisiciones-y-mas-productos-qbe-crecera-colombia