Liberty Mutual acquires Chile insurer; appoints CEO

Property/casualty insurer Liberty Mutual Insurance has appointed Fernando Cámbara Lodigiani as chief executive officer (CEO) of its Chile operations.

This follows its acquisition of approximately 99.6 percent of Compañía de Seguros Generales Penta Security (Penta Security).

Cámbara, who has more than 38 years of experience in the general insurance market, is the CEO of Penta Security. He will lead a unified management team comprised of executives from both Penta Security and Liberty’s existing company, Liberty Compañía de Seguros Generales.

Penta Security is the fourth largest non-life insurer in Chile, according to Liberty. It offers a diverse portfolio of personal and commercial insurance.

In 2014, Liberty and Penta Security generated CL$171 billion and CL$ 226 billion of direct written premiums, respectively.

“We are pleased to have Penta Security join the Liberty Seguros family and have Fernando leading our combined operations in Chile,” said Luis Bonell, president, Liberty International, one of Liberty Mutual’s four strategic business units. “Expansion in Chile is of strategic importance to our goal to build scale in successful, existing markets.”

Pablo Barahona, chief operating officer for Continental Europe and Latin America, Liberty International, added: "The acquisition of Penta was a great opportunity for us to establish ourselves as the number one company in the industry and provide a solid platform for continued growth in Chile."

Cámbara commented: "The combination of Liberty Seguros and Penta Security clearly establishes Liberty as the major player in the Chilean insurance market. But being number one in the market is not enough and our highly-committed employees enable us to also be the leader in delivering products, services and technology to our policyholders, agents and distribution partners.”