Annmarie T. Muna, president and general manager of AM Insurance, was named the 2019 Guam Business Magazine Executive of the Year at the annual Guam Business Magazine Executive of the Year award gala held last night at the Hyatt Regency Guam.
Born and raised on Guam, Muna, 59, is a graduate with top honors from the University of Guam who holds 1983 bachelor’s in business administration with a double major in management and public administration.
Muna’s significant journey in the insurance industry began as an insurance clerk and she worked her way up to become an underwriter. She gained valuable insight into marketing and underwriting as a production manager at Universe Insurance Underwriters Inc., where she was a manager for 13 years. Her professional training includes marketing and underwriting for casualty, property, auto, bond, aviation and marine insurance.
Muna formed AM Insurance in January 1994 in the garage of her parent’s home with only one employee and two clients. Today, AM Insurance has more than 20 employees and occupies three offices in Jones & Guerrero Co. Inc.’s J&G Commercial Center in Hagatna and services many commercial, government and personal accounts.
With more than 40 years of insurance knowledge and experience, Muna is also a licensed insurance broker who is qualified to access Excess and Surplus Lines insurance markets in Europe and America and is one of the most experienced brokers in the servicing of government accounts on Guam. She is also a licensed real estate broker.
In addition to her successful insurance practice, Muna has ventured into other successful business enterprises. She is a shareholder and director of two locally, women-owned companies, Y Ma’gas Inc. and Sentada Inc., which does business as Balutan Queen. Y Magas Inc. started in September 2004 and provides administrative services, event planning and bookkeeping services to small businesses on the island. Balutan Queen is a café in the Bank of Guam building which started in 2007.
She was one of the first 30 charter members of Soroptimist International of the Marianas on Guam. Muna is also a member of the Guam Chamber of Commerce, Guam Contractor’s Association, Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Women in Construction, among others.
Muna is featured in portraiture on the cover of the Guam Business Magazine January-February issue, which was released at the gala.
The annual gala is a fundraising event for the Guam Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Muna joined six other executives in vying for the prestigious award: Richard Chan, President, Archway Inc., which does business as Infusion Coffee & Tea, I Love Guam, and The Beverage Source; Dr. Michael W. Cruz, President and CEO, Guam Regional Medical City; Dean Huntsman, General Manager, Dusit Thani Guam Resort; James I. Oehlerking, CEO, PTI Pacifica, which does business as IT&E; John R. Onedera, Country Managing Partner, Ernst and Young LLP; and Ryan F. Torres, Store Manager of Macy’s Guam.
Past Executive of the Year recipients include Robert H. Jones of Triple J Enterprises Inc. (1983); John M. Borlas of IT&E Overseas Inc. (1984); Philip J. Flores of BankPacific (1985); Doris Flores Brooks of the Office of Public Accountability (1986); Mark V. Pangilinan of M.V. Pangelinan Enterprises Inc. (1987); Allen A. Pickens of Tax-Aide (1988); the late T. Roy Sullivan of Jones & Guerrero Co. (1989); Kurt S. Moylan of Moylan’s Insurance (1990); the late Akira “Mike” Baba of Baba Corp. (1991); Paul M. Calvo of Calvo Enterprises Inc. (1992); Antoinette D. Sanford of Sanford Technology Group (1993); the late Kenneth T. Jones of Jones & Guerrero Co. (1994); the late Edward M. Calvo of Calvo Enterprises Inc. (1995); L. Carl Peterson of Money Resources Inc. (1996); William R. Thompson (1997) of Atkins Kroll Inc.; the late John K. Lee of First Hawaiian Bank (1998); the late Henry L. Schnabel of Calvo’s Insurance Underwriters (1999); Marian Aldan-Pierce of DFS Saipan (2000); Manfred H. Pieper of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia (2001);
Thomas G. Ahillen of Asia Pacific Solutions LLC (2002); Juan T. Guerrero of Herman’s Modern Bakery Inc. (2003); Joseph M. Crisostomo of Cars Plus LLC, Cycles Plus and Payless Car Rental (2004); Joseph “Jerry” Kramer of Pacific International
Inc. (2004); David M. Sablan of Century Group of Companies (2005); the late Alfred C. Ysrael of Tanota Partners (2006); Lee P. Webber of MDA Guam (2007); Laura-Lynn V. Dacanay of First Hawaiian Bank (2008); Jerry Cho Yee Tan of Tan Holdings Inc.
(2009); Lourdes A. “Lou” Leon Guerrero of Bank of Guam (2010); Jay R. Shedd of IT&E (2011); Jerrold C. Johnson of Hawaiian Rock Products (2012); George Chiu of Tan Holdings (2013); Norman T. Tenorio of Joeten Enterprises Inc., Pacifica Insurance Underwriters Inc., Tropical Instant Press Inc., Saipan Shipping Co., Saipan Stevedore and Advance Carrier (2014); Jeffrey B. Jones of Triple J Enterprises Inc. (2015); Jose C. “Joe” Ayuyu of McDonald’s of Guam and Saipan, RJ Corp. and RJ Guam LLC (2016); Leonard K. Kaae Sr., senior vice president and general manager, Black Construction
Corp. (2017); and Bernadette N. Valencia, vice president and general manager of for Micronesia and Okinawa, Matson Navigation Inc. (2018).