Insurance industry weathers regulatory, tax changes
From left: Jorge Padilla, senior vice president of Universal Group, Roberto Martínez, vice president of Triple S, and Fermín Contreras, director of Cooperativa de Seguros Multiples de Puerto Rico during one of the panel discussions.
Despite the challenges Puerto Rico’s insurance industry has faced related to new federal health regulations and local tax changes, it remains one of the local economy’s strongest sectors, as industry members continue to develop products and services in benefit of consumers.
Late last week, more than 200 professionals of various segments of the industry — health, life and property and casualty — gathered at the Luis Miranda Casañas Foundation’s Universal University to participate in the 1st Puerto Rico Insurance Conference, during which executives, government officials and rating agency representatives presented their vision of the future of the industry on the island.
The conference was an initiative by the Insurance Coalition, which joins the The Puerto Rico Association of Insurance Companies (known as ACODESE), the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the Insurance Agents Association, and the Association of Professional Insurance Women, to open a direct communications channel between the industry and brokers “to work together in benefit of the industry,” said Coalition Spokesman José C. Benítez, who is also president of Universal Life Insurance Co.
Puerto Rico’s insurance industry generates nearly $10.5 billion in premiums annually, executives said.
