MAPFRE’s growing commitment to the best financial agents

MAPFRE’s most valuable asset is its extensive network of agents in the markets it operates in. The Group has the largest distribution network in Spain in terms of size and capacity—part of the company’s DNA when it comes to the insurance business.

The company’s experience in this field enables it to extend this network to the financial sector. This entails establishing a specialized network where the financial agent, who always accompanies the customer, plays a central role. “We are historically lagging in Spain, and in Latin American countries in general, in terms of the role that the professional financial advisor plays in making savings and investment decisions for families,” says Enrique Palmer, Business Development Manager at MAPFRE Gestión Patrimonial, the unit specializing in financial advisory services.

We come from an environment where extensive bank coverage was prevalent and traditional banking institutions filled this role. However, the rise of new players, with significant technological capabilities, is prompting traditional commercial banking to make way for other forms of financial advice. “In such a landscape, we firmly believe that the financial agent, through professionalization and alignment with the customer’s interests, will become a more important figure,” he adds.

It’s not insignificant that MAPFRE has the largest number of financial agents. Specifically, MAPFRE Inversión has more than 1,740 CNMV-certified representatives (1,124 agents and 623 authorized Mapfre Vida employees), who are part of MAPFRE España’s office network. “These professionals, who have the necessary financial certification to advise customers, act as representatives of MAPFRE INVERSION SVSA and are exclusive insurance agents for MAPFRE España. So their portfolio of solutions includes both insurance products and purely financial products,” says Jaime Sobrino, Sales Manager at MAPFRE Inversión. In the particular case of MAPFRE Gestión Patrimonial, an area striving to reach 250 agents by the end of 2026, the profile is purely financial, with professionals from the sector who have come from other companies. “They bring outside professional experience that is very valuable to us," Palmer adds.

Financial advising, where solution distribution is an integral part of the entire advisory process, should be regarded at a professional level akin to advisory in other fields of expertise, such as commercial, labor, tax, or accounting advisory. For MAPFRE, financial advisors provide indispensable support when managing the financial risks of individuals, self-employed workers, families, companies, and institutions. “At MAPFRE, we’re specialists in risk management, and financial risks (such as market, credit, and liquidity risks) are part of the analysis conducted within a 360-degree model, which also includes the examination, prevention, and hedging of personal, property, and business risks for each customer,” says Sobrino.

MGP professionals

MGP is recruiting two very different types of professionals. On the one hand, professionals with at least 10 years’ experience in the sector, who can provide proven experience and a portfolio of customers sufficient to generate a high income that will offer them economic stability. The absence of a mandatory legal retirement age in financial advising enables us to build lasting careers. That’s why we actively seek to recruit professionals over the age of 50, who bring with them a wealth of professional experience and are ready to embark on the most productive and rewarding stage of their career.

These professionals aren’t solely recruited from traditional financial hubs like major cities, but also from provincial areas with less developed personal banking services. In these regions, we aim to offer MAPFRE customers advisory services on par with those available in metropolitan centers. “We enable professionals in the sector seeking new projects to explore opportunities without necessarily having to relocate beyond their existing spheres of influence,” Palmer explains.

Simultaneously, MGP is beginning to onboard young individuals who have opted for the finance sector as their career path. We welcome them into a highly supportive environment and provide them with employment contracts. The firm is working with them to build an 8-year project to develop the financial advisory professionals of the future. “We’re taking on students from business schools and universities who hold financial certifications and bringing them into our teams. They undergo a rigorous mentoring process under the guidance of senior professionals, who assist them in building their future customer portfolios. Throughout this journey, they benefit from the security of an employment contract,” says Palmer.

The objective is for this group to have the option in the future to either continue working within the employment relationship with MAPFRE or to transition, equipped with a built customer portfolio, into becoming financial agents and crafting their own business model.