Pan-American Life CEO José Suquet sees fresh opportunities in Latin America, U.S.

In 2004, José Suquet was tapped to lead New Orleans-based Pan-American Life Insurance Group, which had once been among the top personal and business insurance providers in the Americas but, by the early 2000s, was losing market share and seeing its profits erode amid rising costs and a string of unprofitable ventures.

Suquet was tasked with turning things around at the company, which was founded in 1911 by Crawford E. Ellis, a United Fruit Co. executive during the height of the banana trade between New Orleans and Honduras.

In the years that followed, Suquet focused on growing business in core Latin American markets, overhauling the company's financial structure and cutting business lines he saw as distractions.

Today, the insurance company's revenues, which were $284 million when he took over two decades ago, are nearly $1.5 billion, and the company is comprised of more than 30 member companies, with more than 2,200 employees worldwide. Its footprint extends to 49 states and more than 20 countries.

In this week's Talking Business, Suquet discusses the company's growth and why he says he's not worried about the potential disruptions to global trade and economic stability.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I would bet a lot of people who walk by your building at 601 Poydras St. every day have no idea what PALIG does.

We are a life and health insurance player for the individual and corporate markets. In Latin America, we focus on the affluent and high net worth customers on the individual side. We also focus on employee benefits for all of the leading, major multinational firms that operate in Latin America — Walmart, Amazon, Dell, Microsoft — clients that are top of the corporate world in business. Though we are all over Latin America, Panama, Costa Rica and Columbia are the countries where most of our activity is located.

Does PALIG actually underwrite policies for these clients or just do plan administration?

We do all of the above. We are an employee benefit plan administrator, we underwrite, we have an extensive network of medical providers throughout Latin America. We have about 47 doctors and 40-50 nurses that work with us as well and offer a full array of services, whether group medical, group life or accident products throughout the region. We have a very strong brand name in the region. We have been in Panama for more than 100 years and more than 80 years in Honduras. No other company can say that.

PALIG also is growing its business in the U.S.?

Yes. In the states, we offer individual life insurance to the middle and mass affluent classes. We don't compete in the high net worth segments. With respects to health insurance, we are focused on the blue-collar and no-collar industries — trucking, for instance.

Has your growth been organic or more through acquisition?

Both. We have a strong, organic growth machine, but we have had three acquisitions that have helped the growth trajectory. Last year, we bought Encova Life Insurance Co. in Ohio, which brought about $600 million in assets that are fully integrated with Pan American Life. They are also that mass affluent type of marketplace. Ten years ago, we acquired a company called Mutual Trust that was based in Oakbrook, Illinois, and brought $2.5 billion in assets into the company. We kept their facility and employees and management team, and they now manage the U.S. life business for us. And the one that started it all was in 2012, when AIG, which was a major insurance company, was taken over by the U.S. Treasury, and we acquired certain companies from one of their subsidiaries.

PALIG recently put new signage with its name on top of the building, the Pan-American Life Center. Why the need for such mass market branding when you are sort of a B-to-B company?

The name has always been at the bottom. We just put it on top before the Super Bowl to recognize the progress we have made over the last 20 years. We have almost 400 employees here and 2,300-2,400 throughout our footprint. When I got here, we had revenues of $284 million. Last year, we closed with almost $1.5 billion, which puts us in the top five companies in New Orleans in revenue. We have made great progress and want to tell that story.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for future growth?

More growth opportunities are international. When you have a recognized brand with a long history in that market, which is comprised of foreign companies that are in and out of the countries down there, there is plenty of potential. The life insurance industry in the U.S., in general, grows at a steady 2%-3% a year. We have been able to hypercharge that in Latin America.

How concerned are you about all the turmoil now roiling global markets, between tariffs and policy changes?

We don't anticipate that will impact us. Our Panamanian company, a subsidiary, has been there more than 100 years. We have a Honduran company run by a Honduran, also a subsidiary. Our CEOs down there are stalwart members of their communities. Our customers are large multinationals like Microsoft and Amazon. They're not going away. They are not going to close up. They want coverage from a multinational like us that has strong cyber security, respects privacy and has strong state-of-the-art tools to help them pay claims. So, we understand. We are not on pins and needles with every executive order that comes into effect. We are going to keep our head down and keep doing business the way we have been doing it. So far, it has worked. If we take sides, we will be in deep trouble. We stay in the middle of the fairway and live by values that incorporate doing the right thing.

A few years ago, you stepped back as president, though you remain CEO. Any thought of retiring?

The board really wants me to stay as long as I can. I have had two knee replacements and two hip replacements in the past five years, but otherwise, my health is good. I am blessed to have three co-presidents, and we have a tremendous team that is working very well together. We challenge each other, but there is real collaboration and a lot of transparency.