Fulcro Insurance, Luis Juarbe Seguros merge to broaden services
The Puerto Rican firm Luis Juarbe Seguros y Fianzas has merged with insurance brokerage firm Fulcro Insurance. The merger is aimed at strengthening the service offering and increasing the number of resources available to serve existing and future customers. The announcement was made by Ramón Pérez-Blanco, president, and Luis Juarbe-Berríos, managing partner, of Fulcro.
“As a Puerto Rican capital brokerage firm, one of our greatest sources of pride is the possibility of joining forces with other companies that share our desire to focus entirely on serving the needs of clients or policyholders. This is an example of how we bet on local talent to strengthen our offerings,” said Pérez-Blanco.
As part of the merger, a dozen members of Juarbe-Berríos’ team joined the brokerage firm, which has offices in Old San Juan, Atlanta, Florida and the Dominican Republic. With this transaction, the total number of people in the Fulcro team has risen to 81, and the firm’s insured portfolios in Puerto Rico now total $170 million.
Luis Juarbe Seguros y Fianzas has more than 44 years of experience in the insurance industry in Puerto Rico, where it has worked in various industries — with special emphasis and knowledge in the food manufacturing, distribution and sales industry.
“Like everything we’ve done for more than 40 years, we do this for our customers, too. They will continue to receive the best service, but this time it will be even more robust, because we also have the capacity and strength of Fulcro,” said Juarbe-Berríos.
Juarbe-Berríos’ team will now benefit from the investment the Old San Juan firm has made in tools and platforms to improve the customer experience, as well as the ability to offer complex and difficult-to-place insurance. It also has the support of the strongest claims team in the industry, company officials said.
Innovation predicted for the future
Both executives stressed that, because of this merger, they will focus on continuing to innovate for the future. Fulcro brings the in-depth knowledge approach of its team to the service commitment of those who join its work team. In addition, Pérez-Blanco explained that there will be improvements in risk assessment, disaster recovery planning and other areas.
“Now, we’re going to add new elements to our team that will further improve our offerings. Juarbe’s experts bring added value in terms of knowledge in the manufacturing, supermarkets and hospitality sectors, which will enable us to provide even better service. Value is also added to Juarbe’s existing clients,” Juarbe-Berríos said.
Pérez-Blanco stressed the impact that the transaction has on the firm’s growth plans in the medium and long term. He said it is a new commitment to local talent that strengthens the brokerage firm.
“We bring resources with proven experience, with proven areas of expertise, with ways of doing things that are different from ours,” Pérez-Blanco said.
“This is aligned with our vision of continuing to accompany Puerto Rican companies that want to take their products and services outside the island. We’re increasingly in a better position to assist them in meeting that objective,” he concluded.