About — The Panama Alternative

Why we exist.

The Panama Alternative was founded because the people we kept meeting — in waiting rooms, at dinner parties, at the school gate — were all asking the same questions and getting the same unhelpful answers. Whether they came from the Caribbean, the United States, Europe, or Latin America, most were being handed to general real estate brokers whose incentives pointed in one direction: sell a house quickly.

That is not what these clients needed. They needed someone to sit down, listen, and tell them the truth about whether Panama was right for them — regardless of whether a transaction followed. We built the practice to be that someone.

We take a limited number of clients. At any time we have a small cohort of active engagements, because serious work cannot be scaled without becoming unserious.

We do not take commissions from third parties. No kickbacks from developers, brokers, lawyers, or insurance providers. If someone is paying us on your behalf, you will know about it. Our only income is our advisory fee, paid by you, disclosed in writing before any work begins.

We tell you when Panama is wrong for you. Not every client who reaches out ends up working with us. A meaningful share of our discovery conversations end with us recommending that a client stay where they are, or consider another destination entirely. We consider that a successful call.

Discretion is the default. Your situation, your questions, and your name stay with us. We do not use client names in marketing without explicit written consent. The testimonials on this site use first names and backgrounds only, with permission.

We live here. Every member of our small team is based in Panama. We use the same hospitals, shop in the same grocery stores, and send our children to the same schools we recommend.

Juan Williams

Founder & Managing Partner

Juan studied Law and Political Science with an emphasis on Economic and Commercial Law. Before founding The Panama Alternative, he co-founded PayCaddy, a licensed Mastercard principal member and program manager based in Panama City (Y Combinator W22). That experience — operating a regulated financial institution from the inside, managing compliance, card program economics, and cross-border client relationships — shaped the advisory practice he runs today.

His background spans payments strategy, tax advisory, and regulatory engagement across Latin America and the Caribbean. He is also a co-founder of Wolf Advisory, a strategic payments consultancy advising banks, issuers, and financial institutions. At The Panama Alternative, he leads every client engagement personally, from the first discovery conversation through to settlement.

Juan Diego Galvez

Partner & Operations

Juan Diego brings deep expertise in fintech operations, product development, and payment processing infrastructure. A co-founder of PayCaddy and formerly with Ingenico Payments, he bridges the technical and the practical — from processing architecture to the day-to-day logistics of helping a family actually settle into a new country. Within the practice, he oversees property management operations, renovation project delivery, and the operational infrastructure that keeps client engagements running on schedule.

Pablo Gutierrez, CPCU

Partner & Insurance Advisory

Pablo holds a B.S. in Risk Management & Insurance and Finance from Florida State University, a master's degree from MIB Trieste School of Management, and the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. His career spans senior roles at Multibank Seguros, Generali, and ASSA, and he was part of PayCaddy's founding team. At The Panama Alternative, Pablo leads the insurance advisory component — helping clients navigate the transition from Caribbean or US health and property insurance to Panamanian coverage, and structuring the asset-protection side of a relocation in a way that is actually defensible.

A small practice, built for serious conversations.

Why we exist.

A few principles we don't break.

The people behind the practice.

Juan Williams

Juan Diego Galvez

Pablo Gutierrez, CPCU

The only way to know if we're a fit is to talk.