International Cooperative and
Mutual Insurance Federation

The Latin American Reinsurance Group (LARG) is a group of ICMIF members who purchase their reinsurance as a group. The initial group was formed in 2004 with five original members to tackle difficulties in placing reinsurance treaties individually and the concept has since developed with the group now having 14 member organisations.

The LARG is supported wholeheartedly by ICMIF and the group meets once a year in one of the member’s countries to enjoy training and presentations on issues relevant to the group. This event also provides the opportunity for networking amongst members, exchanging experiences and successes, and meeting with their reinsurers and the group’s reinsurance broker, Willis Re. The group’s success is also due to the hard work and dedication of the full time coordinator, Martha Julia de Marroquín, and the efforts of the group’s Executive Committee.

Last week I had the fabulous experience of attending the LARG meeting for the first time in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It was a “5 star” event and a “5 star” experience. I use the term “5 star” as it is a term used by the Honduran people to describe themselves as a nation and to describe their country. It also refers to the five blue stars of the Honduran flag. I would wholly echo the sentiments of the Honduran people and say that they and, in particular, all the wonderful team at our host organisation, Equidad Compañía de Seguros, are most definitely “5 star” people.

Our “5 star” host

Equidad Compañía de Seguros is one of the original five LARG members and the warm welcome we all received from the Equidad team was led by Mariela Silva de Reyes, General Manager. The organisation of the three day meeting by Mariela’s team was faultless and ensured that the event was both productive and enjoyable for the 70 delegates attending the meeting. In feedback collected from delegates the overall organisation of the event was given a maximum score of 5/5 and definitely well deserved.

Our “5 star” LARG members

This is a unique group of organisations and individuals. It was a huge pleasure to meet the LARG members and see how they work together and the value they create for the group and for each organisation through the sharing of experiences and through collaboration. On the first day it was both fascinating and inspiring to see the group working together through a series of workshops to define their 2013 work plan and the strategic plan for the next three years – true cooperation in its best sense.

The “5 star” presentations and training

One of the main aims of the event is to facilitate training and presentations on issues that are relevant and common to the group members.The presentations throughout the event were given by a number of individuals including the group’s actuarial consultant, Bernardo Miranda; the group’s reinsurers: Shelter Re, AAIC and RGA Reinsurance Company, with opportunities for discussion around the renewal of treaties by the group; by Willis Re, the group’s reinsurance broker; and by member organisation Coop-Seguros’ General Manager, Arlene Sabaris. Other presentations delivered by experts in their field from other companies on areas of common interest as requested by members of the group, such as Swiss Re, Patria Re, Hannover Re and ICMIF Supporting Member, A.M. Best.

A “5 star” mission and vision

Both the mission and vision statements of the group also prove to be very inspirational.

Whilst at the meeting the group renewed and agreed its new mission statement to be “To acquire effective reinsurance and technical capacity in order to promote the development and growth of mutual and cooperative insurers in Latin America through integration and Cooperative Principles”.

The group’s vision statement is: “To be a leading organisation in the social economy sector and a facilitator of reinsurance and technical assistance services in Latin America”.

“5 star” values

I would like to end by sharing with you the five truly cooperative values upheld by the group both collectively and as individual organisations. These are:

• Solidarity
• Equity
• Transparency
• Responsibility
• Reliability

For more information on the LARG, please contact Vanessa Smith who is ICMIF’s Consultant to the LARG and also Vice President, Member Relations, ICMIF – vanessa@icmif.org