Colombia Financial Services

Rapid expansion in the insurance industry over the past decade has largely been focused on Colombia’s medium- and higher-income groups, which together make up a little more than 30% of the population. However, as competition is forcing premiums on some policies to unsustainable lows, industry players are eager to extend their reach into the large...

Compared to regional and emerging market peers, Colombians are under-banked. Despite more rapid credit growth in recent years and efforts to broaden access, the ratio of loans to GDP was still below 38% at the end of 2012, while only 66.5% of adults over the age of 15 use at least one financial product. By November 2012 there were 34.6m savings...

THE COMPANY: Grupo Nutresa is the fourth-largest consumer company in Latin America by market capitalisation. The firm has a well diversified portfolio of products with more than 122 brands, 15 of which are leaders in Colombia and neighbouring countries. It also has six different business units: cold cuts...

THE COMPANY: Ecopetrol is the Colombian national oil company. It is one of the major oil and gas integrated companies in the world and, as a corporate conglomerate of more than 25 enterprises, has operations in exploration, production, transport and refinery of hydrocarbons. It also has subsidiaries in...

The country has long been a small, relatively closed economy with a small banking sector. But recently, Colombia has been opening up to the world, particularly by signing multiple free trade agreements. As well, its banking sector is in good health, having escaped relatively unscathed from the worst effects of the global financial crisis. While...

THE COMPANY: Cementos Argos is a cement and ready mix concrete producer company. The firm has operations in several Latin American markets and also has a presence in North America. In Colombia, the company is the industry leader with a 50% market share. It is the fifth-largest cement producer in Latin...