October 1, 2001
While the Latin American market for traditional insurance products is growing fast, corporate finance and capital markets coverage is also developing. Demand for it is likely to grow as credit quality declines worldwide.
The September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, whose claimable damage may exceed $50 billion, have tossed the global insurance market into turmoil. The solvency of some of the world's largest insurers is under pressure and the markets' perception of risk has changed dramatically.
Even before that fateful day, the number of insurers and reinsurers operating in Latin America had begun to shrink. In the last several years, industry consolidation has accelerated as multinational companies have invested in the Latin American market, buying up local players too small to survive on their own.
Yet a third factor is playing into today's insurance dynamics: a steady decline in