siam nº17 ingles 22/11/02 12:07 Página 1 SEPTEMBER 2002. No. 17 MAPFRE Asistencia's and SIAM's News Bulletin http://www.mapfre.com/asistencia Table of Bertie Ahern, Prime Minister of Contents Ireland, Inaugurates the Ireland 4-5 Moody’s gives MAPFRE Assist Offices Asistencia an A1 rating 10 SIAM Consulting is Here 14 Brazil,Winner of the SIAM 2002 Story Contest 15 Central American Regional, Leader in the SIAM 2002 Regatta 30-31 We Talk to… Marta Santamaría Bertie Ahern giving the inaugural address in the Ireland Assist offices. Page 9 Viajes MAPFRE Acquires Viajes Tívoli Agencies and Consolidates its Position in the Spanish Tourism Market Viajes MAPFRE and the SEHRS Group, alliance for the future. Page 6 siam nº17 ingles 22/11/02 12:08 Página 2 SISTEMA MAPFRE Julio Castelo, Gold Medal for Merit in Insurance he Spanish Council of Ministers, in a Castelo Matrán, who has also held T meeting held on June 28, decided to important posts in institutions related to award the Gold Medal for Merit in insurance, is furthermore the author of Insurance to Julio Castelo Matrán, various works on insurance-related Honorary President of MAPFRE topics, while as General Director of Mutualidad, a well-deserved acknow- MAPFRE (a position he held from 1978 to ledgment of his brilliant professional career 1985), he made a decisive contribution to and outstanding contribution to the the establishment of the indemnity scale improvement of Spanish insurance. for personal damages resulting from driving accidents. Julio Castelo Matrán was born in 1941 in Águilas, Murcia, and has a degree in Law. The Medal for Merit in Insurance was He joined MAPFRE in 1961, when he had created in 1947 to honor those national yet to finish his university studies, holding or foreign persons having the most positions of ever increasing responsibility significant history and prestige in until in 1990 he was named President. His insurance, authors of important technical accomplished professional career initiatives or creators of insurance continued until, in April of 2001, after 20 companies with extraordinary national, Julio Castelo Matrán, Honorary President of years of active life, he renounced international, and social interest and MAPFRE Mutualidad. completely in order to devote himself prominence. entirely to his personal and family life. MAPFRE’s Business Performance wins “Dirigentes” Prize n July 25, MAPFRE received the During the same ceremony other awards O penultimate public recognition of were given out, to the following leaders its business performance from the and companies: Dirigentes Group, at an annual ceremony celebrated in the Salón de Pasos Director of the Year: Carlos Pérez de Bricio, Perdidos in Madrid. President of Cepsa At this edition, Sistema received the Company of the Year: Hewlett-Packard Dirigentes Business Performance Prize, Project of the Year: Community of Madrid with special emphasis on the profits Business Development: Vallehermoso obtained in 2001 (245 million euros), a 2 growth of 47%, despite the difficulties Communications: TPI experienced by the insurance sector after Security: Prosegur September 11. Business Initiative: Michelin Tires The award was received by Alberto Innovation of the Year: Roche-Farma Manzano, General Secretary of Sistema Cover of the June 2002 issue of Dirigentes magazine, SEPTEMBER 2002 Business Strategy: Lever Favergé MAPFRE, and bestowed by the State featuring the awards from the 2001 edition. Secretary of the Treasury, Estanislao Quality: LG Electronics Spain Rodríguez Ponga, and the General Manager of the Dirigentes Group,Andrea The Business Performance Prize was y Pérez de Castillón, President of Volvo SIAM News Martinotti. awarded posthumously to Germán López Spain. siam nº17 ingles 22/11/02 12:08 Página 4 NEWS Moody's Assigns A1 Insurance Financial Strength Rating to Mapfre Asistencia, S.A.; Outlook is stable Press Release from Moody’s Investors Service Ltd. Breaks the News ondon, <Rating Date Pending> -- LMoody's Investors Service assigned a first-time insurance financial strength rating of A1 to Mapfre Asistencia, S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corporacion Mapfre.The rating outlook is stable. Based in Madrid, Spain, Mapfre Asistencia (MA) provides travel, road, and home assistance to some 700 corporate clients. As of June 2001, MA operates in approximately 50 countries and has a direct presence of 35 of these. The company operates under the Mapfre brand as well as SIAM (Sistema International Asistencia Mapfre) in locations where the Mapfre brand is already in use by another group entity. Over 63% of MA business is generated in minimums by a factor of 5.2x as of June phase. While to date, MA's growth has Latin America, although the company's 30, 2002 and appropriate given its risk been almost entirely organic, MA is likely strategy is to reduce the weight of its profile, in Moody's opinion. to grow via acquisitions in the future. In Latin American business so that Europe Moody's opinion, the integration of and Spain together ultimately account for Moody's further commented that it views acquisitions could present additional 50% of total revenues. MA writes business MA's ownership by Corporacion Mapfre risks in the future. Furthermore, because in a variety of forms, including through as an important element supporting the of its rapid growth and resultant new direct channels and reinsurance treaties, rating. Corporacion Mapfre is, in turn, the business strain, its return on equity and via service agreements. The form in listed vehicle of Sistema Mapfre, Spain's (ROE) was 6% in 2001, below which business is written depends largest insurance group with a 13% Corporacion Mapfre's target ROE of primarily upon the availability of a local market share. Corporacion Mapfre also 11%. Finally, MA's high proportion of presence. has a bancassurance alliance with Caja business generated in Latin America Madrid, Spain's second largest savings exposes the company to FX risk. While Moody's said that MA's financial bank through its 51% owned subsidiary, Moody's believes local operations are fundamentals are generally very good. Mapfre Caja Madrid Holding. Caja Madrid generally profitable on a stand-alone MA's combined ratio has averaged 90-92% is rated Aa2/P-1 by Moody's. The rating basis, this does expose MA to currency due to 1. a stable claims ratio (59%) and 2. agency believes that MA is a core risk, because its reporting currency is modest expense ratio. The latter has operation and fits Corporacion Mapfre's Euros and to volatility in earnings when it 4 averaged 33%, including the cost of strategy of selectively expanding its repatriates dividends and royalties. systems, call centers, and new business international business and providing start-up costs. MA's state-of-the-art service to its insurance and joint-venture Mapfre Asistencia S.A reported total technology allows the company to partners. revenues of e117 mn for the first half of manage risks proactively. The company 2002 and had total assets of e 140 mn as does not rely on investment gains to Moody's noted that offsetting these of June 30, 2002. SEPTEMBER 2002 sustain profitability. Moody's noted that strengths, MA faces several challenges. MA on-balance sheet liquidity is good and MA is a relatively new company, having The following rating was assigned: additional liquidity is available through been spun-off from Mapfre Re in 1995. Mapfre inter-group pooling. MA's solvency The company has expanded quickly, Mapfre Asistencia S.A.- insurance financial SIAM News levels are strong, covering regulatory reflecting in part its current start-up strength rating of A1. siam nº17 ingles 22/11/02 12:08 Página 5 NEWS : New International Distribution Channel for MAPFRE Asistencia APFRE Asistencia continues to the customer’s data and travel conditions. M expand its international business Insurance is issued automatically, it is presence. This time, in July, an agreement included in the customer’s purchase of a was signed by Amadeus, which now joins trip, and the transaction is communicated An Image of the MAPFRE’s group of sales networks as a electronically to the MAPFRE Asistencia Segurviaje product. new distribution channel for travel affiliate that will cover the customer in insurance. case of an accident. journalists, who highlighted the novelty of Amadeus is a system for reservation and The agreement was set in motion in the product, which breaks through the sale of plane tickets, other means of Colombia, where Andi Asistencia has obsolete operating procedures currently transportation, and hotel stays, and is used begun to register its first sales. To this end, used in travel agencies. in 56,000 travel agencies and 8,500 airline on September 3 MAPFRE Asistencia’s sales offices around the world. Colombian company introduced the The event was designed from its inception Segurviaje product to the world of with an eye to the agents who work the At the heart of this system is Amadeus Colombian tourism. 500 people attended counter,as they are the ones, after all, who Travel Assistance, an e-solution that the launch between wholesale agents, are responsible for commercializing the provides the travel agent with a form of travel agents, tourism operators, airlines – product. The information provided for selling travel insurance that is simple and including the top executives of the most them related the characteristics, fast, completely trustworthy in managing important airline in the country – and advantages, and benefits of the product, already available to all the travel agencies. Videos were also shown, which explained how to use the AMADEUS system and how either the travel agent or the final customer can activate Segurviaje. MAPFRE Asistencia is planning implementation of the agreement with AMADEUS in the rest of the Latin American affiliates in the near future, so they can also take advantage of the widest international distribution network in the world, and continue applying the new technology the market offers to improve Guests at the launch, among them Sergio Rivera, manager of Andi Asistencia.