More than 70 senior executives, analysts and market specialists accepted Grupo SURA´s invitation to learn more about its ongoing strategy and performance within the region.

Our risk prevention initiatives within the insurance industry and a greater weighting of voluntary savings in terms of our overall business are just some of the key factors that are ensuring our ongoing sustainability.

Through its subsidiaries and core investments, Grupo SURA now has 34 million clients in Latin America, with Assets Under Management totaling USD 141 billion.

Medellin September 4 Yesterday, September 2. in Bogota, Grupo SURA staged its second annual Investor Day, for the purpose of informing our investors, market analysts and other professional individuals and organizations on how Grupo SURA is performing throughout the region, as well as the progress made, its ongoing strategy and the individual performance of our companies in all nine countries where we are currently present.

This event included conferences given by David Bojanini, Chief Executive Officer of  Grupo SURA; Gonzalo Alberto Pérez, Chief Executive Officer of  Suramericana; Andrés Castro, Chief Executive Officer of SURA Asset Management; and Juan Pablo Córdoba, President of the Colombian Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Colombia).  These gave rise to discussions centering on the role that financial institutions currently play in forging a greater degree of comprehensive development in each individual country. The context of the Latin American Pension Systems, current savings rates, the future of the insurance industry and the efforts made to strengthen the stock market were just some of the topics that our different senior executives contributed to the overall discussion.

"Latin America is a market with a great deal of potential and its current dynamics demand new solutions. Companies are focusing more on providing greater innovation, especially in terms of establishing new channels in order to reach unattended segments of clients," stated David Bojanini.    

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Grupo SURA, the key factors to the success of the Organization has been to have a well-focused portfolio of investments, being able to develop long term relations and investments, having a comprehensive risk management system in place, conducting rigorous follow-ups on the Organization´s corporate governance and having built up a sound corporate culture, amongst other aspects. This has been amply evidenced in the progress that the Group has effectively made over the last few years: Between 2008 and 2013, Grupo SURA's presence had expanded from 3 to 9 countries in Latin America, with its client base going from 14 million to 34 million and the value of its portfolio of investments rising from COP 8.7 billion to COP 23.4 billion at June, 2013.

Meanwhile, Juan Pablo Córdoba, President of the Colombian Stock Exchange, who provided an overview of the capital markets in Latin America and their prospects going forward, underscored the important role that companies play in strengthening emerging stock markets such as our own. "With markets joining MILA (the Integrated Latin American Market), issuers and investors are gaining access to new markets. Economies showing the greatest potential in Latin America are joining up under this same platform.

As far as what companies need to do to increase the demand for their products and services outside their local markets, Andrés Castro, Chief Executive Officer of Sura Asset Management, stated that "corporate strategy should be adapted to the needs of each country as well as the differences with each market. Ours is a very attractive region, in terms of its demographics and the substantial and steady pace of growth of its economies, amongst other positive factors."

Also, as part of this global market integration and free trade, the insurance industry has gradually become a major player. Gonzalo Pérez, Chief Executive Officer of Suramericana believes that "Free Trade Agreements can only be effective if our industry inspires confidence and is amply backed by a comprehensive handling of risk".

At Grupo SURA's Second Annual Investor Day, many important topics were discussed in terms of the new challenges that companies face, opening up new markets and the substantial opportunities that exist for furthering business growth.

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