The Pan-American Life Insurance Group, an international insurance provider and financial planning service based in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been officially welcomed into the Costa Rican market. The company, which will operate through a local corporation as the “Pan American Life Insurance de Costa Rica, S.A.,” is the sixth insurance organization to be approved to compete in the Costa Rican insurance market, which opened to competition in 2009 after the passing of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). Prior to the passing of CAFTA, the National Insurance Insitute (INS) had been Costa Rica's sole insurance provider for 84 years, with the exception of Seguros del Magisterio, a company that provides life insurance to teachers.

Pan American Life Insurance of Costa Rica will join Seguros del Magisterio, Mundial-MAFRE, Alico Costa Rica, Assa Compañía de Seguros and INS as the only approved providers of insurance coverage in the country. According to Javier Escalante, who oversees the insurance superintendency (SUGESE), a regulatory agency, these companies will begin selling their products within the next few months.

“We are very satisfied with the performance of the insurance market in our country,” Cascante said. “Since the opening…the progress in the sector has been successful and in a very short time we will have a large diversity of products and services, which will without a doubt provide benefit to consumers.”

The Pan-American Life Insurance Group was established in New Orleans in 1911 and now has operations in 47 U.S. states, as well Puerto Rico, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and the Cayman Islands. In Costa Rica, the company will offer term life insurance, universal life insurance, health and medical expense insurance and accident insurance.