Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana S.A. (GRUPOSURA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

This document may contain statements of future relations related to business [ and respective ] subsidiaries made under the assumption and estimates of the company's management and may contain variations. Good morning, and thanks for joining us for the results of the fourth quarter of 2021. Please keep in mind that this presentation is divided into 2 parts. First, we'll talk about financial results, and then we'll have a live Q&A session. Today, we have Gonzalo Perez, CEO of Grupo SURA; Ricardo Jaramillo, VP of Business Development and Finance; Juan Luis Munera, VP of Legal Affairs; Juan Uribe, VP of Finance Investments, Suramericana; and Carlos Oquendo, VP of Corporate Finance of SURA Asset Management. Let's give the floor to Gonzalo Perez.

Thank you, Daniel, and thank you all for joining us in this call of the end of 2021. We want to begin by talking about revenue. Why? Because this item really shows the acceptance of the subsidiaries and of Grupo SURA's total operation for the public at large and consumers. Revenue last year exceeded our expectations, indeed, which we already discussed with you, reaching COP 24.8 trillion in 2021. Revenue is divided into premiums of Suramericana, a bit more of COP 21 trillion of more than 16%, plus COP 2.6 trillion in commissions of SURA Asset Management, which grew 13.6%. On the other hand, the equity method of 2021 reached record highs in the history of Grupo SURA, with a very significant increase logically compared with the year 2020 but also compared with 2019, with a nominal growth of over 18%. This revenue from the equity method reached COP 1.3 trillion, almost COP 1.4 trillion for the company. So again, in terms of consolidated revenue, we had a year with almost COP 25 trillion for Grupo SURA consolidated and a significant growth of 19%, exceeding what we forecasted early in the year. On the other hand, we have operating expenses. You are all aware, and we have been sharing with you, that part of our goal and that of our subsidiaries is to work every day with increased efficiency, which in turn is an element for competitiveness and sustainability. In terms of efficiency, expenses increased 5.3% compared with 19% growth of revenue, which obviously improves the company's margin. We should keep in mind that these expenses include those of COVID incurred by Suramericana in 2021, which increased more or less [ 0.3% ] to 5.3%, which makes us continue that path of efficiency that we have been seeking since the beginning for more, again, competitiveness and better results. Lastly, the company's net profit was COP 1.5 trillion. And it's important to underscore the following. In November, December, the increase of revenue of the -- the increase of minimum wage in Colombia of 10% had played a figure close to COP 120 billion less in revenue than expected for Grupo SURA. So that net profit of COP 1.5 billion (sic) [ COP 1.5 trillion ] was hit by the increased minimum wage, and as you know well, impacts the reserves of Proteccion and Suramericana's workers' compensation and reserves of pension funds of Suramericana. So we had an impact in the last 1 or 2 months of COP 100 billion directly on Grupo SURA. So that profit of COP 1.5 billion (sic) [ COP 1.5 trillion ] exceeded, really, our expectations. 89% of the profit we had in 2019 is the same shown at the end of 2021, which, again, exceeded our expectations. However, the increased minimum wage stopped us from being at the same level of 2019. Otherwise, we would have been very close to the 2019 profit levels of Grupo SURA. On the other hand, as we told you in previous calls, we will begin to provide you some guidelines of the projections of Grupo SURA and its subsidiaries in coming years. Let's begin by saying that in 2022, we expect a net profit of 15%, which implies our ROE close to 8% to 9%. But this projection really indicates is that by 2024 we will have a return close to capital cost, which is the main goal to create value for our shareholders and investors. In addition, the deleveraging, which is a clear part of our creation of value, has evolved truly from 2017 to 2021. Now we're talking about COP 1.6 trillion in deleveraging the consolidation of the company. We're also talking about capital optimization of COP 3.5 trillion, which we have discussed for the past years and in 2021, which makes us increasingly efficient in capital management. In terms of dividends received, these have been given 6.6x in 2021. In 2022, this is the profit assumptions we have. We'll be at 3.7x and 4.3x, and in 2024, we will be at 5.5x of dividends received, which continues that path to create value and efficiency in the company, financially, as well. Lastly, it's important to talk about the dividends paid. In past years, Grupo SURA has paid COP 5 trillion in dividends, which implies a compound growth of 10% in the past 20 years. This is important since it's the distribution made to our shareholders. This year, the proposal made to the shareholders meeting is a 30% growth of dividends for shareholders, which we expect will be approved and ratified by this meeting, in the end, clearly, since 2019, seeking the creation of value for shareholders. And as you know well, too, it's to reflect upon our stocks the value of our company, to have stocks that show the equity growth of our company and the increased profits as well as our revenue during all of these years. And since 2019, we have been working on -- and we have mentioned it to you before, on the SOX, S-O-X, to find an opportunity to be listed in the New York Stock Exchange. Indeed, SOX for this company -- for the group of companies, is a long process, and it's been underway for the past few years. And the pandemic obviously slowed down our work in SOX since the companies had to serve the pandemic, that is we're talking about serving 43 companies and over 3,000 controls design. So it has been a long and hard process, but it will help us, in every sense, not only to open the doors to be able to be listed in the New York Stock Exchange but to also have controls that will help the company's management. I mean SOX is not the end itself, but also a tool that enables us to be listed. And with this, we hope our stock reflects the company's performance in recent years. And in coming years, SOX is also a tool to manage every subsidiary in Grupo SURA. Since one of our strategic goals is based on economic growth, we also keep in mind the importance of a harmonious growth of society, which the entire world is rightfully claiming. And we also want to talk about what we're doing for the harmonious growth of society. First, our sustainable investment policy. Sustainability is the reason to be of these companies, industries and countries to always work on a long-term basis. In our sustainable investment policy, we have updated and excluded new sectors and prioritized risks. Remember at SURA Asset Management and at Suramericana's future and AUMs, we do play a very important role in terms of investments. So we are talking about making sustainable investments, excluding new industries and prioritizing some risks. This does not mean that the tools we have in SURA Asset Management, Suramericana, that these investments won't be more sustainable. And on the other hand, regarding sustainable finance, we have determined new governance, new metrics and prioritized risks, particularly for climate change and human rights, which, again, society demands today. We hope, as Grupo SURA, to advance on this matter more than the planet is. Let's talk about the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which our group has belonged to for many years. In this Index, as you know, we are abided. And we rank third globally in the industry. But beyond ranking third, what matters is our commitment again to seek harmonious growth of society and with the harmonious growth of the company, which is what sustainability reflects. In the Index, we had high scores in freedom of association, talent planning and training, 100/100. We also had high scores in codes of conduct and policies of corruption and bribery, which are relevant in every economy today, obtaining the highest score, 100/100. And we had a very relevant score in best practices to compensate the senior management, which the company stood out in the valuation made by Dow Jones of Grupo SURA and its subsidiaries, which, at the end, they're all measured under this metric. Regarding citizenship and democracy, we have increasingly worked on training citizens using all of the means and mechanisms to face misinformation. Today, in every process in Latin America and worldwide, we need to provide the population tools so they can make well-informed decisions and also -- to also have tools available to fight against misinformation, which also is part of this so-called difficult setting of citizenship and democracy. The company began to work on building based on diversity, and thinking with others' project is a reality today. We have this throughout Latin America, and the project of Let's Talk Colombia derived from Let's Talk Chile was held with more than 5,000 persons gathered to discuss Colombia. And I hope that you will see soon the results of this project since they're truly important for the management of Colombia and which is valid for every country. We continued with the dialogues of regions to build citizenship and consolidate democracy and this group as well as societies where we operate. SURA Foundation celebrated last year its 50th anniversary working in education, culture, citizenship and democracy. In the last call, we were asked about the foundation in which we invested $8.2 million last year, with more than 186,000 persons impacted and related to the foundation with more than 1,700 concessions. This is part of the second strategic goal, the creation of value for shareholders, economical, exceeding the capital cost in the path we are now on. And as we said before, by 2024, we will have that harmonious growth of society with the work we are doing now. Lastly, it's important to say that with the effective term of the takeover bids, there is a regulatory rule of passivity, which states that any information or decision that may be interpreted as an interference of the takeover bid is theirs. So therefore, the company, management and the Board have decided to strictly abide to this rule, and this is why the company's reaction is just to abide to the said rule in these practically last 3 months. And our communications are just to avoid affecting the takeover bid that exists over Grupo SURA. Corporate governance and -- will always be the most important tool we have to respect all of our shareholders and investors. And indeed, it's a tool that makes it possible for anybody on the planet to trust that his or her investments or stocks are managed with the highest standards, respecting 100% of the shareholders. Again, thank you so much for joining us in this call of the 2021 results. And I give the floor to Ricardo Jaramillo, who will provide details of the results and strategies to create value of our company. Thank you.

Thank you, Gonzalo, and a special hello to everyone joining us today. I want to focus on 2 matters. First, the financial statements of the 3 companies with Grupo SURA Consolidated, SURA Asset Management and Suramericana; and second, to take a closer look at the indicators of Grupo SURA for coming years. As Gonzalo said, we have had the commitment for years, and as we have mentioned in previous calls, we want to shed light on the company's projections and developments. Let's turn, please, to Slide 9, with the consolidated financial statements of Grupo SURA. I would highlight here that the recovery of the company is much faster than our initial expectations. Our net profit is COP 1.5 trillion, COP 1.4 trillion of the holding company, which is 6x the profit level of 2020, and it means 89% of the profit reached in 2019. Again, this exceeds the expectations we had at the beginning of the year. So how did this transition take place? It's been leveraged mainly by the sound commercial dynamics that we will see in detail; second, our ongoing effort to control expenses, emphasizing the drive shown to control expenses; and lastly, evidence of the soundness and benefits of the diversification of the portfolio of Grupo SURA. Let's take a close look at the consolidated revenue of Grupo SURA, which, as Gonzalo said, reached almost COP 25 trillion. This represents a growth of 19%, a growth that is diversified throughout our lines, bringing an additional COP 4 billion to the company's revenue. Premiums issued grew 16% and 22.7% in the last quarter. Revenue from commissions increased 14%. Revenue from investments grew 23%. And very important is the equity method, which grew 4x, and that I will explain ahead. The second item worth underscoring on this slide is the claims ratio, which was so important in 2021. Suramericana had 12 months of the pandemic compared to 2020 when there were less months impacted. In 2021, it was also [ 12 months ]. Claims ratio was COP 2.5 trillion, up 24%, and we will see this closer ahead when we discuss each segment. Operating expenses grew 5.3%, which is below inflation. The difference here between the growth of expenses and revenue allow us to reach an operating profit close to COP 2.6 trillion, up 59%. Again, this figure exceeds our expectations, and these are the results that lead us to the net profit mentioned. Let's go to Slide 10 with the equity method of the different companies. Again, this equity method is a record high of the company, almost COP 1.4 trillion and COP 401 billion in the last quarter. This item is mainly reported by Bancolombia. You can see Bancolombia contributes almost COP 1 trillion in equity method. We also see a significant growth of other investments of Grupo Argos, Nutresa and Proteccion. So let's move on to Slide 11. Here, let's take a close look at operating expenses. These expenses grew 5.3%, below inflation. However, there are 2 or 3 indicators that are relevant and should be kept in mind to illustrate this process in place since the beginning of the pandemic for a strong control of expenses. First is the indicator of expenses over revenue. As you can see, this indicator is improving, close to 326 basic (sic) [ basis ] points in the last quarter, and this is a lot of money given the revenue. That is the revenue derived from those expenses, such as revenue from premiums, revenue from commissions mainly. So there is a significant improvement of this indicator. The other point that is quite relevant is when we see how much we increased revenue and expenses, and we can see that for every peso spent, we increased revenue 5x. This means that we have a strong operating leverage in our [ deleverage process ]. Let's look closer at the figures of Suramericana. Here, we can begin by saying that Suramericana ended the year with a positive net profit, backed by sound commercial dynamics, a strong control of expenses and a significant impact of claims ratio derived from 2 causes: COVID; and restrictions in the logistics, which have a big impact on car solutions, plus the inflation related to car parts as well as the cost of this solution. Let's look at the premiums issued, which reached to almost COP 22 trillion, up 16.5%, which, in turn, provides the company a significant liquidity to handle the level of losses handled. With COVID, the figure is about COP 1.6 trillion of losses. But the positive message here is that during the last quarter, there were COP 185 billion losses, displaying the lowest losses of the pandemic. In short, we have begun to see, after the vaccinations, better results in terms of the company's claims ratio. And ahead, we will see that the company expects in '22 to see this continue and to return to the normal claims ratio levels we had displayed. Claims ratio was at 70.8% and 71% in the quarter, which we will see in each segments ahead. Gonzalo also mentioned something important. In this quarter, we had an impact from the minimum wage, meaning the difference between inflation and the increase of the minimum wage. We expected a figure lower than 10% approved. Moreover, as a result of a recommendation made by our external auditor, since this increase took place in November, the company had to record it in 2021 in short. 2021 was hit by the difference between the minimum wage and inflation in January and in November. The positive side is that we won't have this in '22 since the effect was recorded, again, in '21. The foregoing had an impact at Suramericana by COP 135 billion, of which 55% goes to losses and 45% to reserves. This means that 55% of that figure is reflected on this financial statements in losses. The technical result reached COP 1.6 trillion, and you can see in the figures, that dropped from 8.1% to 6%, mainly driven by the claims ratio. And another important item here is administrative expenses, fees and others, which grew 2.5%. So we have a company with revenue up 16% and controlling expenses at 2%. Still, the net result was not very positive compared with what Suramericana had in the past. But again, the company has had important -- has important capabilities and efficiencies during this recovery phase from the pandemic. The other item worth highlighting is the development of revenue from investments. This item grew after displaying for several months or in quarters a decrease, mainly due to the increased interest rates and inflation. So now, we're seeing that the portfolios of each segment have positive dynamics after growing throughout the entire year. Let's move on to the next slide with the Life segment. Hand in hand with what was said before, we see sound dynamics of growth of the different solutions, particularly in health care, labor risk and group life. Health care increased 18.2%; labor risk, 15.9%; and group life, 11.5%. Another important message of these commercial dynamics is that Life, which, as you know, is mainly operating in Colombia, has reached close to 20% of the premium of this segment of the regional platform or overseas. On the top-right figure, you can see the losses display a positive development during the past quarters, which gives us peace of mind as to what may lie ahead. We also see here a strong control of expenses. You can see increased commissions, not because of more commissions per se, but due to a mix mainly from the bank channel, which speeds up when the bank's cost of commissions is higher. Lastly, we can see the net profit that was positive in the last 2 quarters and a very positive development in the last quarters of revenue from investments. Let's move on, please, to Slide 15 to take a closer look at the segment of Casualty. We can begin by saying that we still have sound commercial dynamics and a growth of 29.5% in last quarters. This growth is divided into 2 components. 2/3 pertains to tariff and the other 1/3 to volume. The growth of volume is up 10%, which is logical when we look at the growth of premiums of the entire segment. From the segment's point of view, in addition to the sound commercial dynamics that I've mentioned, it is worth underscoring the claims ratio we have mentioned, which relates to logistics and to the higher prices of car parts. This is reflected in the combined [ reasons ], close to 114%, which should begin to be mitigated by the increase of tariff's movement in the quarter. And other item highlighted and mentioned in other calls is that this segment now registers the operation of Life in other countries, such as Mexico or Panama, which are under a single company. These 2 countries have brought more claims ratio due to COVID. And in this quarter alone, COP 31 billion were brought of claims ratio related to COVID. So if we look at the final profits seen at the bottom right of COP 21 billion, and we go back to the COP 31 billion, we are talking about Casualty with profits close to COP 52 billion. That claims ratio we have mentioned, as shown in the figure of the administration of expenses, has been controlled by a strong control of expenses to the administrative, commissions and technical. Slide 16 shows the Healthcare segment. This segment mainly gathers the EPS for Ayudas Diagnosticas, the entity in charge of making all the tests; and the HMO, the entity that provides all the services. We should keep this in mind since in the dynamics of the growth, we can see that as the pandemic has evolved, the EPS keeps growing fast. However, both the EPS and HMO, which had a strong growth, have decreased slightly in the last quarter. This also impacts the claims ratio because when the EPS is more relevant in the mix, it collects the expenses with the most claims ratio in the segment. Despite the increased claims ratio, there is an improvement of severity in most cases, and this is seen every day in the news with the new strain of Omicron. So we see as larger spread, more persons infected. But the severity of the cases is lower, and this is seen in the figures of the Healthcare segment. The control of expenses remains strict to have a positive profit for the company. And do you remember when we spoke last quarter about reserve? The external auditor asked us to make a reserve for the accounts receivable to the government. Of this reserve, we got back COP 78 billion. And this is why in the last quarter, we see a good profit level of COP 47 billion. In the entire year, the segment's profit was COP 44 billion. And at the end of December 31, the existing reserve is close to COP 36 billion. Let's take now a close look at the figures of SURA Asset Management on Slide 18. Let's begin by saying that the net profit of the company increased 45%, reaching COP 627 billion. This is mainly backed by sound commercial dynamics and increased revenue from commissions reaching 13.6% for the year. In terms of the different segments. Savings for retirement grew 11.8%, while Inversiones SURA and Investment Management grew 25.4%, all aligned with the company's strategy to develop these new business lines, which we have mentioned in past years. That 13.6% growth is in pesos. In local currency, this growth is close to 9.4%. Operating revenue reached COP 3 trillion, up almost 10%. That is COP 300 billion more. However, you can say that in revenue from reserves, we had a decreasing impact with COP 91 billion less compared to the year 2020, mainly due to several effects in Chile. The other item worth highlighting, which is not very positive, is the equity method in the case of Proteccion, in which similar to what Gonzalo said in the introductions about Suramericana, the 10% increase of the minimum wage had an impact on the provisional insurance. This means that this slide of the minimum wage versus employees, along with the higher claims ratio from COVID, Proteccion, had an impact on these financial statements, close to COP 92 billion. On the other hand, the operating expenses grew 12.8% in pesos and 9.2% in local currency. This is mainly influenced by COP 68 billion from a reserve made in the operation of Mexico for a commercial restructuring process, and hence, to align the company with the commission, dropping from 0.83% to 0.57%. So the company must control expenses from here on to keep the profitability levels we and our shareholders expect. The operating profit reached close to COP 1 trillion in the company. Let's move on now to Slide 19 to see in detail the segment of savings for retirement. Here, we can see it continues with a sound performance. A positive recovery of the salary base and AUMs are growing 6.6%, and operations are growing both supported by the flow and by those charged by pull-through AUMs. The dynamics displayed in previous quarters continue. And I would point out that in the different countries, there are good dynamics. In the figure of the expenses ratio with an upward curve that you can see, this is mainly related to the COP 68 billion I mentioned to build a structural efficiency at Afore SURA. It's also worth highlighting that the growth of AUMs is significant when you keep in mind the withdrawals made in Chile and Peru of close to COP 27 billion. So we have been able to compensate these withdrawals through the flows in both countries. Let's look at Slide 20, which shows the voluntary business, that is Inversiones SURA and Investment Management. Here, you can see the positive results of this segment. First, the increase of AUMs close to COP 10 trillion, reaching a figure close to COP 77 trillion; Second, a net positive flow COP 2.4 billion (sic) [ trillion ] and [ 2 billion, clients ] which, again displays the sound dynamics of the segments. We observe a growth of commissions close to 25%. Said commissions derived from those of AUMs and from insurance margins. Remember, we have projects more related to insurance in Chile called Unit Link with an impact of COP 12 billion and one of the causes of the lower operating impact in the fourth quarter. And the second impact of the insurance margin is the sanction in the Chile operation of close to COP 10 billion. Both reasons lead us to end the quarter with a negative operating profit. However, this segment, as a total, contributes to SURA Asset Management compared to 2020 an additional net profit close to COP 37 billion. Let's move on to the section of projections involving, basically, all 3 companies: Suramericana, SURA Asset Management and Grupo SURA. The idea here is to illustrate every quarter the development of these different indicators, which are key, really, to understand the sound dynamics that we expect the companies will have in future quarters and years. Let's begin with Suramericana. Firstly, we expect double-digit growth figures of premiums issued. Here, you can see that in '22, we talk about a range from 11% to 13% and of 10% to 12% by 2024, aligned with what we've seen in recent years. And the idea here is to take advantage of the capabilities of the region to provide new solutions mainly of Life or Healthcare, which the company's acquired. And casualty still have a good growth potential. To talk about a company of COP 22 trillion with a 10% growth means that there is a challenge of 2.2 -- COP 2.5 billion in growth. And this is a huge challenge since that company of that size is quite relevant solely in terms of growth. And so the claims ratio observed for 2022, it was 70%, 71%. And that's path towards recovery of the claims ratio displayed at prepandemic levels. Surely, this year, we still have some impact from the pandemic at least in this first quarter. But as we overcome the situation throughout the world, the impact will be less in terms of claims ratio. Also remember the claims ratio related to cars. And as the problem is overcome, there will be a convergence towards normal levels. We see the huge efforts made in expenses versus premiums issued of 11% to 12%, with projects that are necessary to develop in the company. So the goal toward returning to normal levels of Suramericana in terms of the ROE in 2022 is 7% to 9%; and ROE in the next 3 years of over 11%, returning to the levels to generate value or above the cost of capital that the company has had. Remember, throughout this presentation, we have said that Grupo SURA had a quicker recovery towards the prepandemic levels of 2019, but Suramericana was hit hard in 2020. And 2021 as a whole was a year with more impact. I mean the recovery has not taken place at the same state, and the fact that the economies are open, we're all back on the street is an expense that the insurance companies are assuming. So going back to normal for Suramericana will take a bit longer. Here we see the tangible return of capital at 10%, 11% for 2022, and at 6% to 7% which is a sound level for 2024. On Slide 23, we will see the details of the projections of SURA Asset Management. Let's begin with the AUMs which are expected to grow by 2022 about 10% to 12%. This growth is backed by the business of savings for retirement at 8% to 10% plus SURA Inversiones and Investment Management at 16% -- 20% of AUM growth. In terms of revenue from commissions, we need to understand what backs this projection. By 2022, we expect a drop of 2% to 5% and for the following 3 years we expect a growth of 4% to 6%, in line with the previous history. Why is there a negative growth in '22? Because of the drop of Mexico's commission. Remember Mexico's commission is moving from 0.83% to 0.57% and will be compensated with the growth of AUMs as of '23 providing more contributions. In short in Mexico, we have a J Curve which eventually with the AUMs increase from 6.5% to 15% this will be a bigger business, but on a short-time basis it is impacted by the smaller commission. We also need to say that when you add the operating margin and the profitability level, the J curve of Peru has been displayed due to the bids as well as the investment management and either Inversiones SURA business geared towards higher profitability levels. So in 2022 we observed an operating margin improved 40% to 42%. In '21, it reached 35% carrying on with the efficiency efforts, but with an impact of the adjusted ROE of 6% to 7%. The tangible return is 7%. So after the J Curve passes, we will move to profitability ranges of 7% to 8% or a tangible profitability of 20% to 22%. Now let's look at the projections of Grupo SURA. I'd like to remind you that to make these projections, it's key to understand that the bottom line that Grupo SURA is part of a portfolio of 5 main investments that have a detail of projection and a path that is touched that at the end of the day, what we gather here really is that detail in our consolidated. So we're talking about 2 main items that we mentioned in past years. One, is the regularization process, which is underway 2 years because of the pandemic. And second is a deleveraging process, which hasn't impact because of the pandemic, because we received less dividends from the companies and the payments of deleverage gets to be lowered. So what do we expect? As Gonzalo mentioned, we expect a growth of our net profit of 10% to 15% by '22. We expect net debt against the dividends received, which is the main indicator that rating firms use that we constantly monitor to see if we are below the 5 levels continues towards that downtrend as we have the capital optimization initiatives or dividends received that are better than those we had revenue for Grupo SURA in 2021 to reach those levels of 4x the net debt dividends. And we expect with these initiatives and with the expectations the following years to be below 2.5x by '24, which we consider a very sound level in terms of the deleveraging process. In terms of the ROE, by '22 we will be reaching 8% to 10%, and we also expect as Gonzalo said in the introduction, our ROE that we'll receive a barrier of 11% to 12%, which is the capital cost that we have in the company and that we had for '22, but with the 2 years of the pandemic had to be delayed towards a recovery to reach that generation of value that we all want for the company. Thank you for joining us. And let's move on to the Q&A session.

Good morning, once again. Thank you for joining us. Let's begin the live Q&A session. We have several questions on the chat related to the takeover bid. [ Carlos ] is asking why don't you use part of the gain of the earnings of last year to have a new program for the stocks to expand the program that you have?

Thank you, Carlos, for your question. And again, hello to everybody that's connected to this call. Let's talk about the reacquisition of stocks. As you know, this is a program of Grupo SURA approved for so many years and innovation, and a significant innovation that the market many times find and in the development under the mechanism of being in the market, we reached a level of COP 50 billion. We have always said that this is another tool that we have at Grupo SURA to handle capital. You have to understand that we have different uses of that capital available, always seeking how to serve the different interest. Here, we have the service of the debt and capital and we have to seek that deleveraging process on the other hand. We also have the investments which the holding makes. And thirdly and most importantly, the dividends to our shareholders. In the developed markets, like the States, the money that shareholders receive is through the reacquisition of stocks. So today, this is a tool that Grupo SURA has to handle capital. Right now, we have COP 250 billion approved, but we have to be realistic. We have to see that if it's convenient to use that tool because of the floaters we have in the company after the changes of the base of shareholders. Here what we're seeing that under the criteria of capital assignment and looking at the use of capital, if it's the best way to assign capital or not, but it's part of our toolbox.

Perfect. Let's follow with a question that Mauricio messaged. How do you think that your relationship will be with the new shareholders? And how is the removal of managers?

Thank you, Mauricio, for your question. It's important to give you a context. Since early 2000, we were a leader in corporate governance, and we were told so by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. So we have a corporate governance that rules our relations with all shareholders independent of their shares in the company. And we have government entities that rule that relationship. The idea here is to create value for all the shareholders. So we're sure that through those regulations and our corporate governance, and our institutional ties with our shareholders will seek to create value for 100% of our shareholders. Remember, we have been in operation for 75 years, and we have created value with sustainability in a long-term basis. So what we expect is to add among all shareholders, so these companies can still create value and follow the path that we all need and that shareholders and investors need and seek, and society as well. When it comes to the schemes of incentives for management, I told you that before that Dow Jones has recognized the standards, the company -- it's relevant for you to keep in mind that we have human talents. So we not only have to keep in mind the loyalty of clients and shareholders, but also of our personnel. So we think that the results that we have today of 75 years is a result of our human talents we've had. So this leads us to know that it's fundamental to have loyalty of our human talent. So this is why we're giving knowledge, commitment, long-term vision for all of our shareholders and obviously, to our clients. So since 2015, the independent members of the Board of Directors designed a process, a program of loyalty at the moment -- day of leaving. Today, this program gathers all of the employees with salaries above 25 minimum wages. This is -- for those that are not in Colombia, the maximum limit of quoting for retirement pension is 25 minimum wages. So those that earn more than 25 minimum wages, employees contribute when they -- for when they retire. This is called a closure of pensional gaps. So when the employees leave, when 62 males and 58 females being in the company at least 15 years, the company will contribute a proportion of several levels that will close that pensional gap. 35% really has to do with pari passu between the employees and the company. So this is the system there is. And again, this is for all of the employees of this company that have -- that earn more than 25 minimum wages, and this is consolidated at the moment that they retire for their pension at 62 and 58. It's also when it comes to retributions the bonus for results of the company every year, when it comes to Grupo SURA and the company covers 100% of the employees. It's not only bonds for senior management, but for all employees that earn more than 25 minimum wages. And since 2015, the independent members of the Board sought to regulate for the loyalty of human talent, so that we can all end our days working for the company.

But I would like to add, Gonzalo, complementing what you said that the scheme of incentives has been constantly validated with international human talent firms to look at the competitiveness of our company. These are not -- we don't have a small company in the region. And again, we're always comparing ourselves with other industries, other competitors and with external advisers looking at the -- if we have proper competitiveness levels.

You're right, Ricardo, and we look at the salary wages with these international firms as well, which have been assisting us for many years, precisely for our competitiveness, as Ricardo mentioned.

The next question is of Andres Arango. What's the impact in the exchange difference on the company's results?

Andres, we can see this in the presentation the difference sort of change had an impact that was positive on the financial statements of 2022 -- 2021, sorry. And I would underline that Grupo SURA, and then Carlos Oquendo can talk about the exchange difference of SURA Asset Management. In Grupo SURA the debt is entirely in pesos. So you do not see this. In Grupo SURA, we have international bonds that expire in 2026, $50 billion. The capital is entirely covered. You can see that in 2020, there was an impact. We were completing the coverage of the capital bonus, which matured in 2026. In '21, we see a positive result because with series of hedges that value as the exchange rate evolves. So in '21, Grupo SURA showed a positive result. So when it comes to the projections of the company, I would assume that this is covered, and we have a scheme of hedges that is valued constantly. But we should -- it should have an impact close to 0 in the positives and negatives of the valuation of the debt and the derivative that we have month to month. So Carlos can tell us more about SURA Asset Management, which differs.

Andres and everybody, good morning. When it comes to SURA Asset Management, we begin with a capital structure that contains $850 million of debt in dollars. And this is covered in 94% and the purpose of the -- or the impact, the exchange difference and hedges is that, that value is made through our strategy seeking that line of 0. Obviously, we are trying to maximize the value that received in Colombian pesos since each of the countries in their currencies sent us everything to Colombia. So the second purpose is to maximize the value of dividends in Colombian pesos. Indeed, in 2021, we had COP 70 billion more than budgeted by this management. We also have other investments made in the country related to the [indiscernible] capital invested to develop businesses. That capital, seed capital is in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. And we also have another reserve that is mainly in Chile in dollars. The effect of the seed capital and the effect of the reserve that we have since it's in dollars mostly had a positive impact of $99 million, and the yield and valuation of this seed capital also had a positive effect shown in the line of other operating revenue. So the medium- and long-term structure that we have in debt and capital management and the reimbursement of dividends to the holding had very positive results in 2021.