Our Annual Report for 2023 addresses the more relevant aspects of Grupo SURA´s performance, progress, results and commitments in its role as an investment manager firmly committed to its strategic objective of maintaining ongoing levels of sustainable profitability, which recognizes the importance of generating value for our shareholders while helping to drive a more harmonious level of development for society.
The Company posted total revenues amounting to COP 35.5 trillion, that is to say COP 6.3 trillion more than for the previous year, representing a growth of 21.7%; this driven by the uptrend with premiums and fee and commission income as well as improved investment results.
Upon excluding non-recurring effects, controlling net income, i.e. that attributable to Grupo SURA, reached COP 2.3 trillion, for a year-on-year growth of 11.7%.
In 2023 we received a total of COP 1.8 trillion in dividends from our portfolio investments, for an increase of 61% compared to 2022.
Grupo SURA’s annualized return on equity (adjusted ROE) stood at 10.2% for 2023, the highest recorded in the last 6 years as we continue advancing towards our goal of achieving a return above the cost of capital.
Over this past year we continued to strengthen our well-balanced handling of our economic, social, human and natural capital, this in our role as an investment manager that is deeply committed to a genuine way of doing business.
Gonzalo Alberto Pérez – CEO of Grupo SURA
Our portfolio focuses on financial and related services through Suramericana (insurance, trends and risk management), SURA Asset Management (pensions, savings, investments and asset management) and Bancolombia (universal banking). We are also the holding Company of the SURA-Bancolombia Financial Conglomerate. Our portfolio is complemented by Grupo Argos’s industrial investments this being an infrastructure parent company.
Customers¹
73.6 Millon
Employees²
64,160
Suppliers
60,297
Customers: 23,6 Million
Employees: 6,895
Countries: 84
Customers: 20 Million
Employees: 22,509
Countries: 7
Customers: 30 Million
Employees: 34,756
Countries: 4
¹ Sum of customers of the Conglomerate Companies. They are not unique clients; they may be clients of several companies in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay.
² Administrative and operational employees plus sales force and dependent advisors, excluding apprentices without labor contracts; includes employees of the parent company Grupo SURA.
Sum of suppliers of the Conglomerate Companies. They are not unique suppliers and may be suppliers of several companies in countries where they operate, as well as for several of them in the region.
⁴ Includes the direct operation of its subsidiaries in seven Latin American countries, as well as investment vehicles in the United States and Luxembourg. Event subsequent to year-end: SURA Asset Management, through its subsidiary Protección, announced on February 15, 2024 the agreement to sell AFP Crecer, its operation in El Salvador.
We seek sustainable profitability, thereby generating a financial value above the cost of capital and helping drive a more harmonious level of development for society. For this purpose, we manage our four capitals:
This we understand as being a set of networks, relationships and frameworks of action that enable us to inspire trust and work in conjunction with other people and institutions towards common objectives that have an impact on society.
We manage this type of capital from three different dimensions aimed at building trust: within the Company, with other entities (alliances) and for society itself (strengthening institutions).
84.4% of the individuals surveyed stated that they trust Grupo SURA, according to a survey conducted by the Company at the end of 2023.
79 representatives from 7 stakeholder groups participated in Grupo SURA's first discussion forum staged in 2023.
USD 12,85 million was the total direct social investment made by the Companies as well as that channeled through the SURA Foundation in this past year.
A total of 474 proposals were received by the 2023 call for proposals on the part of #PensarConOtros for building citizenship and democracy in Colombia.
Our approach here is aimed at furthering capabilities, knowledge and experiences that help drive people´s development, autonomy and freedom.
We help our stakeholder groups to improve their decision-making abilities, develop new opportunities and create more prosperous conditions for themselves, their environments and the development of their portfolio business.
We provide training opportunities for different audiences for these to enhance their capabilities.
We strengthen the knowledge of Grupo SURA's talent in order to drive our growth and sustainability.
92/100 was the score obtained with the Well-Being Survey which was performed on more than 17 thousand employees of the SURA Companies in Latin America.
USD 4 million was the amount invested un employee training by Grupo SURA, Suramericana and SURA Asset Management in 2023
We understand this to be a set of natural resources that interact with each other to generate benefits for people, companies and all living beings.
We help regenerate this type of capital through three approaches: from our risk management function, our sustainable portfolio investments and the SURA products and solutions that incorporate environmental criteria.
As part of our current climate risk quantification analysis we incorporated the carbon price variable into the value of our portfolio companies.
USD 124.3 million totaled SURA Asset Management's Assets under Management invested in products based on ESG criteria.
USD 63.6 million totaled the amount of premiums corresponding to Suramericana's solutions based on environmental criteria.
Thematic investments increased by 14% in 2023, including investments made by the investment portfolios of Suramericana and its subsidiaries, compared to 2022.
We receive financial resources from investors and creditors, which we manage by efficiently allocating these in order to enhance the profitability of our portfolio, create added value for our shareholders and help improve living conditions while driving sustainability in all those territories where we are present, this through our investments.
In 2023, we focused on our financial management function, which forms part of our understanding of this capital.
Consolidated operating income rose by 25.5% to stand at COP 4.6 trillion, the highest ever recorded in our history.
Our net debt to dividends received ratio came to 3.1 times at year-end 2023.
Relevant moves with respect to our portfolio: the signing of the Framework Agreement governing the Grupo Nutresa - Grupo SURA share swap and the acquisition of an additional 9.74% stake in SURA AM.
Dividends received on the part of Grupo SURA rose by 61% compared to 2022 to stand at COP 1.8 trillion.
We strengthened our aggregated portfolio view for monitoring our investments and managing the risks associated with these as well as the Company itself. In 2023, more than 50 sources of risk for the SURA Business Group were identified and analyzed.
Framework Agreement
On February 6, 2024, the first part of the direct exchange of shares, as contemplated in the Framework Agreement, was carried out: Grupo SURA delivered to Nugil, JGDB and IHC all the shares it owned in Nutresa; in turn, JGDB, Nugil and IHC transferred 27.8% of the ordinary shares held in Grupo SURA.
Credit rating agencies
On January 19, 2024, Fitch Ratings and S&P reaffirmed their credit ratings for the Company. Fitch maintained its stable outlook and S&P downgraded its own outlook to negative in line with its review of Colombia's sovereign rating.
Divestment in El Salvador
On February 15, 2024, Protección, a subsidiary of SURA AM, announced the sale of its stake in AFP Crecer. With this transaction, SURA Asset Management seeks to optimize the capital of its different lines of business.
This lays out the internal rules of governance, ethics and conduct, as well as the governing bodies responsible for deciding on these matters while ensuring respect for the rights of our shareholders, as well as all our stakeholder groups and their relationships with Grupo SURA and its administrators.
Juana Francisca Llano - CEO of Suramericana
Adjusted ROE*
10.5% vs. 9.3% for 2022.
Adjusted net income*:
COP 631,068 million for an increase of 28.7%
*Excluding the effect of the divestitures in Argentina and El Salvador in 2023.
Contributing to our bottom line was the 29.9% growth in the technical results of the Property and Casualty insurance companies, a well-performing investment portfolio as well as a lower expense indicator compared to the previous year.
Ignacio Calle - CEO SURA Asset Management
Adjusted ROE*
8.8% vs. 5.1% for 2022.
7 Adjusted ROE: Adjusted net income divided by controlling shareholder’s equity.
Controlling net income:
COP 901,862 million for an increase of 104%
Results driven by the growth of the wage base as well as the number of fund contributors to the Savings and Retirement segment together with the increase in Assets under Management due to higher yields.
We also estimate that dividends receivable on the part of Grupo SURA in 2024 shall increase to around COP 2 trillion with the Company’s operating cash flow forecast at around COP 1 trillion.
* Contemplating a scenario where 100% of Nutresa´s minority shareholders participating in the Tender Offer, as part of the Framework Agreement, choose the option of receiving payment in cash.
1 Return on equity, excluding amortization expense relating to intangible assets associated with acquisitions.
2 Return on tangible equity
The Company’s growth is with Latin America, as we assume our responsibility as part of society.
In this publication and its accompanying attachments you shall find more details regarding the Company's performance in 2023.
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