On the ground in Miami: Allianz’s new hub targets complex LatAm risks

Allianz Commercial opened a dedicated Latin America hub in Miami on February 9. Eduardo Fontes and Guilherme Bizzo explain how it fits into the carrier’s long-term re/insurance strategy.

Key points:
Focus on complex and technical risks
Local execution backed by global capacity
Miami bridges LatAm and capital markets

Allianz Commercial opened a dedicated Latin America hub in Miami on February 9. Eduardo Fontes and Guilherme Bizzo explain how it fits into the carrier’s long-term re/insurance strategy.

“Latin American businesses are becoming more sophisticated in their risk management approaches.”  

Allianz Commercial’s decision to open a Latin America hub during Miami Reinsurance Week isn’t just well timed, but one that reflects how the region’s re/insurance market is evolving, as clients contend with more complex risks and higher technical support expectations.

“Latin American businesses are becoming more sophisticated in their risk management approaches,” Eduardo Fontes, who leads regional distribution strategy across Latin America, told Miami Reinsurance Week Today. “They are dealing with increasingly complex exposures.”

Those, he explains, range from cyber risks intensified by digitalisation to climate-related business interruption and large infrastructure projects. “These risks require technical expertise, global capacity, and local market understanding,” Fontes said. “That’s exactly what the Miami LatAm hub allows us to deliver.”

Guilherme Bizzo, who relocated from Brazil to Miami in December after co-leading the hub project from its inception, now heads the regional managing director’s office alongside responsibility for multinational and alternative risk transfer operations. For him, Miami’s appeal lies less in symbolism and more in how the market functions.

“Miami isn’t just convenient, it’s where the market converges,” Bizzo said. “By establishing our hub, we’re signalling that we’re not managing Latin America from afar, we’re embedded in the market, meeting clients face-to-face, and responding to opportunities in real time.”

Practical considerations also play a role. “It’s literally the gateway to Latin America,” he added. “We’re in the same or similar time zones as our core markets, making real-time collaboration seamless.” 

Beyond logistics, Miami’s position within the wider reinsurance and capital markets ecosystem is another factor. “As the re/insurance industry increasingly integrates with capital markets, being in a location where both traditional reinsurance and alternative capital converge is strategically valuable,” he says. 

A regional centre

The Miami hub is intended to operate as the regional centre for Allianz Commercial’s commercial insurance and reinsurance business, coordinating underwriting, broker engagement and capacity deployment across property and financial lines including cyber, marine, construction and natural resources, entertainment and multinational programmes. 

“The Miami LatAm hub doesn’t replace our local presence in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico,” Fontes said. “It enhances it by providing regional coordination, access to global capacity and specialised underwriting expertise that might not be available in every local market.”

“We’re building a high-quality portfolio with strong technical discipline.”

That coordination is becoming more important as transactions grow more complex and time-sensitive. “When a broker in São Paulo or Mexico City brings us a complex risk, we can quickly engage our global underwriting platforms, tap into international capacity and structure solutions that address the client’s specific needs,” Bizzo added. “That speed and coordination are competitive advantages in a market where responsiveness matters enormously.”

Competing on expertise

Competition for business in Latin America remains intense, but Fontes says Allianz is not seeking differentiation through capacity alone. 

“Our differentiation comes down to three things: technical excellence, partnership approach and global backing with local expertise,” he said. “We’re not just placing capacity, we’re bringing deep underwriting expertise to every risk.”

That emphasis on underwriting depth is central to how the carrier approaches increasingly complex risks. “When clients bring us complex risks, they’re getting world-class technical assessment, not just a quote,” Bizzo added.

Fontes noted that as climate, geopolitical and digital risks increasingly intersect, client expectations have shifted. “Clients don’t want off-the-shelf products,” he said. “They want coverage structured to their specific risk profile. Our ability to structure creative solutions while maintaining underwriting discipline is a key differentiator.” 

The investment behind the Miami hub, Fontes argues, underlines the long-term nature of the strategy. “We’re here for the long term, and we’re all in. We’ve relocated key leaders from Brazil and Colombia, we’ve hired top local talent, and we’ve built a complete team with capabilities across all major lines of business. That’s not something you do if you’re testing the waters.”

As Miami Reinsurance Week unfolds, Bizzo said the hub is already shaping how Allianz Commercial engages with the market. “We have ambitious targets, but it’s smart, sustainable growth.

“We’re building a high-quality portfolio with strong technical discipline, not chasing volume at any price.”

The objective, he says, is straightforward. “We want brokers and clients to experience that Allianz Commercial’s leadership is accessible, engaged, and genuinely committed to serving Latin America. We’re not managing this market from a distance – we’re here, we’re present and we’re invested in building long-term partnerships.”

Eduardo Fontes is the head of distribution LatAm, and Guilherme Bizzo is managing director officer,  head of multinational and alternative risk transfer operations at Allianz Commercia LatAm. They can be contacted at: eduardo.fontes@agcs.allianz.com and guilherme.bizzo@agcs.allianz.com, respectively.

For more news from Miami Reinsurance Week Today, click here.

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