Shield Insurance Builds Growth Through Strategic Alliances

(In the photo, from left: Andrés Lozada, Vice President; Alfonso Lozada, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Maritere Maldonado, President; and Ricardo López-Cepero, Vice President.)

In an insurance market increasingly shaped by complex risks, rising costs and changing client needs, Shield Insurance Solutions is betting that being the biggest firm in the room is not necessarily what gives an insurance broker the biggest competitive advantage.

Instead, the Puerto Rico-based brokerage has built its business model around a relatively small team of experienced professionals (18 to be exact), personalized client service and strategic alliances with firms that bring specialized expertise to the table.

Rather than simply selling an insurance policy, the firm’s objective is to understand a client’s business, identify its particular exposures and then determine which combination of insurance products, risk-management strategies and outside expertise is appropriate.

“That approach is what allowed us to secure such a solid base of clients since the beginning and what has allowed us to grow our initial sales sevenfold,” said Alfonso Lozada, the company’s CEO who has spent more than 40 years in Puerto Rico’s insurance industry, leading the Property & Casualty divisions of several insurance companies and serving as an advisor to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.

Together with his wife, Maritere Maldonado, the company’s current President, he founded Shield Insurance Solutions in 2019 after identifying a gap in the insurance market: the need for a more personalized approach to risk management.

Having just entered one of Puerto Rico’s most competitive professional services industries, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing them to quickly adapt their operations in an increasingly more complicated business landscape.

Shield’s approach is centered on understanding the business itself first and structuring a risk strategy accordingly, hand in hand with the experts who can provide that insight.

Just a year and a half after launching, Shield reported more than $20 million in premiums and approximately 300 clients. By 2021, Shield had grown to report a 45% increase in its client portfolio and 19% growth in sales according to a publication on the company’s website.

Seven years later, that growth continues steadily, having expanded their risk-management services into a wide range of exposures, including cyber threats, climate-related events, business interruption, energy risks and supply chain disruptions.

The Alliance Advantage

That’s why Lozada points to Shield’s alliance-driven model as one of the driving factors of their success. When a client’s needs require expertise Shield does not maintain internally, the company can bring in a partner specializing in that particular exposure, industry or market. That model is deliberately different from trying to maintain a large internal staff covering every possible specialty.

To that end, Shield’s approach is centered on understanding the business itself first—its operations, vulnerabilities, growth plans and potential exposures—and structuring a risk strategy accordingly, hand in hand with the experts who can provide that insight.

When asked about future growth or expansion plans, Lozada said the company will remain focused on the local market, noting that construction and infrastructure represent an important area of opportunity for the firm, particularly as Puerto Rico continues significant rebuilding and infrastructure investment.

Lozada and Maldonado also see growth potential in healthcare and employee benefits, as employers look for ways to manage costs while remaining competitive for talent.

Talent acquisition and development are also priorities for the firm. “Our mission is to continue recruiting the most talented professionals to ensure that clients receive the most personalized risk management for their businesses,” Lozada said. Data management and technology experts are among the talent acquisition targets.

Acquiring the right team is key to positioning Shield Insurance Solutions as a risk advisor. Rather than asking only what insurance does this company need, the process begins by asking what could prevent this business from continuing to operate? In an increasingly complicated risk environment, that pivot could become more important.