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Wacolda: roots in Germany, success in Colombia

Article - October 26, 2012
The successful insurance company is growing regionally, providing quality services for its clients
GERD HAASE, PRESIDENT OF WACOLDA
Companies founded by German businessmen and entrepreneurs have often found an environment conducive to success in Latin America. A particular achievement is the Colombian insurance company Wacolda, founded in 1968 by the Hamburg-based subsidiary Wesselhoeft & Ahlers.

Now nearly five decades later, Wacolda thrives in the Latin American country, while still maintaining its Germanic roots and working culture.

Although the company originally had ties to its German founders, the Andean Pact of 1972 required private firms in Colombia’s financial sector to be converted into national companies, resulting in Wesselhoeft & Ahlers to continue into the 80’s with a 19 per cent share before selling the company to the country’s government.

“Now we are a 100 per cent Colombian company,” says Gerd Haase, President of Wacolda. “And we try to do quality work. In fact, our slogan says ‘we do the best work’. This philosophy is our own and identifies our labour as that of representing the interests of our clients, not just selling them insurance.”

Wacolda is the first insurance broker in Colombia to earn the ISO 9001 quality certificate, given for topnotch services that meet both the needs of the customers and stakeholders. These services include risk identification, prevention, market testing and audit, among others.

Wacolda also maintains strong relationships with international reinsurance companies on the world market such as in London, North America, Europe and Asia. Throughout its own South American region the company has offices not only in Colombia, in the nation’s capital of Bogotá and the important cities of Medellín and Cali, but also in Ecuador, offering its services in Quito and Guayaquil, and in Lima, Peru. However, the company hopes for even further future expansion throughout South America.
 
“We have a lot of interest in the whole continent,” explains Mr Haase. “We want to construct new subsidiaries in other countries in Latin America and extend our own network with associates where we can’t count on our own infrastructure.”

Furthermore, with the ever-strengthening links between Germany and Colombia in terms of trade and foreign direct investment, Wacolda’s European history ideally positions it for potential growth in emerging sectors such as the exploitation of natural resources, the energy sector and the construction industry.

  1 COMMENT



Peter Rivera
03/09/2013  |  14:33
100% of 1

How has this company grown in the last year? I haven't heard about their expansion plan.. i think they face huge competition from the Organización DeLima though...