ACTIVE RE: Willingness to Embrace Opportunity Brings its Own, Enduring Rewards

Active Re was born after its Chairman and CEO, Juan Antonio Niño, saw the gap in the regional market of reinsurance solutions and the immense opportunity for business. As he worked with several captives in early 2000’s, by 2007 he embraced the opportunity for change and founded ACTIVE RE.

Niño is the sole founder — at the time he had just three colleagues — and each have proven to be crucial to the strategy of continuous growth. All are still with ACTIVE RE, and now hold senior positions.

Being the reinsurance business fairly unknown in the Latin American market where the company started, it took a bit of guidance (and a lot of trust!) for clients to understand all the benefits reinsurance solutions for their businesses could have. Niño credits the success to the strength of a superb team and a modus operandum that calls for shared benefits. Active Re has become an internationally rated reinsurer of “Excellent Investment” grade.

The firm’s clients include insurance companies, financial institutions and commercial financing companies, marketing and sales companies, construction companies, tourism organizations, co-operatives, and savings and loans societies. It specializes in reinsurance products, from fraud and theft to credit, life and surety bonds.

The company’s overriding business philosophy is its motto “Benefits for all” and its operational philosophy: “Put client first, measure risks twice, and after due diligence, pay claims, always!”

The company is headquartered in Barbados, with representation offices in Panama City, Miami, London and Madrid, and looking closely to expand and open a new representation office in Eastern Europe to attend our clients in that hemisphere.

The company’s current business focus is to do what we know (risks we know), continue to learn and study the global markets, get strong and trusty allies and everything we do, do it with integrity. Always respect our mission – “Benefits for all”!

The CEO

The company’s CEO started working at the age of 13. At 18 he was working shifts in the National Bank of Panama to be able to support his studies in Economics and Finance in the Universidad Nacional de Panama. After his graduation, he was granted a scholarship to study a Masters in Economics in the University of North Wales. Learning the language in record time, he was able to successfully finish his master’s degree, and went on to pursue a career in banking. He completed several post-graduate programs in prestigious institutions, including Wharton School of Business, in Philadelphia, and Harvard Business School, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Niño possesses a strong business and leadership record and has a deep understanding of the business landscape in the Latin American region thanks to his tenure as president of the Panamanian Banking Association (ABP) and the Latin-American Federation of Banks (FELABAN). He was president of APEDE (Asociacion Panamena de Ejecutivos de empresa) and was the first vice-president of the National Council of Private Enterprise of Panama (CONEP).

Almost 40 years forward our CEO continues to breakthrough in the finance and insurance world. His experience and success in the bank industry, where he held senior positions in national and regional banks, and led the most successful bank in credit card issuance in the Central American region, got him to be a pioneer of the industry in Latin America, founding one of the first local reinsurers in 2000; then to found ACTIVE RE in 2007.

Now 12 years after its creation, ACTIVE RE continues to evolve, serving more than 70+ countries around the globe, led by Niño who still actively leads and engages in all important decisions of the company.