NEW ORLEANS—(October 7, 2005)— In a sign that a New Orleans-based insurance company is continuing to plan for future growth, Pan-American Life today announced the appointment of three new executives to its senior management team.
- Dominick Cortellessa joins the company as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.
- Marta Reeves joins as Vice President for Corporate Marketing.
- Raul Villaverde joins as Vice President for International Operations.
According to Jose Suquet, President and CEO of Pan-American Life: “As Pan-American Life recovers and rebuilds from a natural disaster of catastrophic dimensions, we are continuing to focus on our strategic commitments and growth objectives. All three of the executive positions that we have filled were important to our company before Katrina, and they are even more critical today. We are fortunate to have found executives with the experience and proven talents of Dominick, Marta and Raul. It's a credit to their personal integrity that they are ready to work for Pan-American Life at this time when their contributions are most needed.”
As Chief Information Officer, Dominick Cortellessa assumes responsibility for helping the company maintain the integrity of its records and systems and the flow of communications during the Post-Katrina period and its return to New Orleans . Currently, most of the company's operations staff is temporarily located in Dallas . Communications have been established with policyholders and new insurance business is being issued.
Mr. Cortellessa previously served as Global Head of eBusiness Solutions at Citigroup and as an independent systems consultant to top companies in the U.S. and abroad. He has extensive corporate experience in developing new electronic products and delivery technologies and funds transfer platforms. He also has proven skills in business management, having served as President and CEO of Apprise, a technology outsourcing company. He began his career with IBM and then served as President of ISOTEL, a start-up high-tech company.
As Vice President for Corporate Marketing, Marta Reeves will lead Pan-American Life's program to maintain and strengthen communications and sales-support to its network of domestic and international insurance agencies and agents, and also to policyholders and the public. Previously, Ms. Reeves worked at Principal International, a unit of Principal Financial Group, where she was responsible for strategic planning and development of corporate growth initiatives in Latin America and Asia . Her prior insurance industry experience has included executive-level positions in international insurance marketing with CIGNA and Aetna . She has extensive experience in direct marketing sales, policyholder communication and loyalty programs, marketing support of distribution partners, and management of marketing staff.
As Vice President for International Operations, Raul Villaverde assumes responsibility for coordinating the work of the technical teams that support Pan-American Life's insurance operations in the U.S. and in “model offices” across Latin America . Within 48 hours after Katrina's impact, Pan-American Life reestablished communications supporting its operations in seven countries of Central and South America . Now, under Mr. Villaverde, Pan-American Life will strengthen its regional business in Latin America by implementing strategic administration and technology-building partnerships with the General Managers located in each Latin American country.
Prior to joining Pan-American Life, Mr. Villaverde served as Vice President of International Finance at American Express, where he was responsible for an international re-engineering strategy developed for customer service process improvements. During his 21-year career at American Express, he worked closely with a variety of business partners to manage profitability of the operational servicing structure.
Prior to Katrina, Pan-American Life operated from its own 28-story headquarters building in the Central Business District of New Orleans. Currently, the company's employees are working from temporary facilities in Dallas, Houston , Baton Rouge and other locations. Damage to the headquarters building was minimal, and the company expects to begin migrating employees back to New Orleans soon.
Also, the company has established the Pan-American Life Employee Katrina Fund as a non-profit charitable organization. Contributions are tax-deductible and 100% will be used to help company employees who have suffered severe hardships. Donations by check, payable to the Pan-American Life Employee Relief Fund, may be sent to P.O. Box 539006 , Grand Prairie , TX 75053-9006 . Donations can also be made by credit card through the company's website at www.panamericanlife.com.
For more information, insurance policyholders and agents may call the company's fully-staffed hotline at 877-939-4550. For media inquiries: Please call Tom Richert at 504-566-3151. Or e-mail: trichert@panamericanlife.com