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PROFILE: SOMIT RISKY BUSINESS
Proper insurance advice combines expert analysis of potential loss together with the implementation of customized, workable solutions. SOMIT’s expertise in this area stems from crucial decisions throughout its history that have led to exceptional growth and an outstanding track record.
In order to accomplish our key objectives, I have two great challenges: to build and maintain a high-performing team of leaders and to achieve a very close and discerning relationship with all our clients within a win-win framework.” —Pedro Cupersmith, CEO, SOMIT
FACTS
Company: SOMIT Founded: 1990
Products: Life, health, and property insurance for corporate and individual clients
Number of employees: 210
Offices: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica
Affiliate Offices: Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama
Affiliations: AON Group, a worldwide insurance brokerage
Certifications: ISO 9001:2008 Website: www.somit.com
Twenty-five years ago, Moises Cupersmith and Oscar Salazar decided to pool their experience in the financial services industry to create AIFSA, a small, 10-employee insurance agency. Today the agency, now known as SOMIT, holds a place as one of the largest and most respected insurance brokers in Central America. Its success can be credited in part to three key decisions: to help clients map their risks, to play a strategic advisory role, and to grow wisely and responsibly through new locations and powerful partnerships.
Finding the right answer
Early on, Cupersmith and Salazar realized that it was difficult to differentiate themselves in the insurance marketplace unless their approach to client service stood out. It became clear that they could better serve their clients if they did not merely market and sell insurance policies. More than just offering canned products, SOMIT wanted to perform in an advisory capacity to its clients, acting as true strategic partners. In order to do that, the company developed a method of analyzing a client’s loss exposure through the rigorous process of risk mapping. When this process was complete, representatives could sit down with the client to show the probability and severity of each risk. Only then could they calculate a reasonable monetary impact to potential losses.
Helping clients manage
It was not enough, however, to get clients the right insurance products from reputable underwriters. Clients needed a better means to manage their identified risks as they conducted business day to day. In response to this need, the brokerage firm developed a quality management system for the client to track and complete insurance transactions. These efforts ultimately resulted in SOMIT achieving and maintaining the ISO 9001:2008 certification for management standards. As a part of this methodology, clients may receive a custom-written training manual that both details the specific insurance programs and instructs personnel on the best practices of maintaining them.
Growing responsibly
The third crucial factor in SOMIT’s growth entailed deciding how to increase the company’s size in a way that benefited existing and future customers. It opened a second office in Costa Rica that addressed the needs of corporate and individual clients doing business in that nation. To further expand its reach, SOMIT formed an association with Reunión Aseguradora Salvadoreña (RAS) in El Salvador. It followed that decision by securing representation with an insurance organization in Panama.
But what lets SOMIT stand apart from its competitors is its designation as a correspondent of reinsurer, underwriter, and consultant AON, the largest insurance brokerage in the world. This relationship allows SOMIT’s clients to benefit from every aspect of AON’s expertise, including risk management technology, access to markets, and training.
SOMIT operates today with a strong service-to-client standard that revolves around its goals of accuracy, speed, friendliness, and innovation. As a result, the firm is recognized for its impeccable track record, as well as its technical ability. It is known throughout the region for its commitment to clients and for the consistent ability to resolve all of their ongoing insurance needs. After a proud 25 years of service, SOMIT looks next to pave the way to a half-century of excellent customer and community service.
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