Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC), the independent global wholesale, underwriting management and reinsurance broker, announced that it has concluded a partnership deal with Brazilian broker network GC do Brasil “to provide its retail broking members with access to wider wholesale markets and new products.”
CGSC explained that “GC do Brasil is owned by 67 retail brokers based in 100 important mid-sized cities and towns in Brazil where the firms are usually the leading local insurance providers. GC do Brasil is the exclusive in-house placement network for these retailers and places approximately 500 million Brazilian reales ($157 million) of personal and commercial lines premium annually.”
In exchange CGSC will provide GC do Brasil with “improved negotiating power and wider access to local and global markets, including Cooper Gay’s reinsurance contracts via the CGSC Latin America hub in Miami and through CGNMB in Lloyd’s and the London market. CGSC will also provide GC do Brasil and its brokers with new products particularly focused on commercial lines risks.”
The partnership is part of CGSC’s Latin American growth strategy and investment announced last year. In addition the firm said it is “committed to making a substantial additional investment in the region, and Brazil in particular, over the next two years. 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, CGSC plans to grow its business in the country and the region substantially by 2017.”
CGSC’s Brazilian operations are led by Fabio Basilone, who is CEO of both Cooper Gay do Brasil and Swett & Crawford Brasil, which owns local wholesalers ACMS and JLD. He reports to Ulisses Soares, the recently-appointed CEO for CGSC Latin America.
Basilone said: “Our partnership with GC do Brasil is a significant milestone in the development of Swett & Crawford Brasil’s wholesale business. We now reach hundreds of retail brokerage firms and expect to grow that number above 1,000 firms quickly. Between wholesaling and reinsurance operations across our five offices in Brazil, we place over 800 million Brazilian reales of premium and we believe our distribution platform and market access is second to none.”
Alvaro Angelo de Lima, President of GC do Brasil added: “Our partnership with CGSC will enable our members to tap into a wider range of local and global markets, negotiate better terms and conditions and offer more products that our member brokers can sell to their clients.”
Source: Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC)
Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Agencies
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