Blue Marble Microinsurance aims to expand access to insurance

The Microinsurance Consortium and Venture Incubator (MVI) has announced the group will now operate under the name Blue Marble Microinsurance (Blue Marble), a venture launched earlier this year with a goal to increase access to insurance for the world’s most vulnerable people.

The establishment of the consortium was revealed in January this year during the World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland, aimed at providing underserved, vulnerable and developing countries with insurance or risk protection against the world’s perils.

“We believe Blue Marble Microinsurance reflects the vision of our venture. Both contemporary and straightforward, it speaks to the next generation and reminds us of the interconnectedness of all the earth’s inhabitants,” said Blue Marble Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Joan Lamm-Tennant.

Adding; “Blue Marble Microinsurance is about taking an holistic view of our world, seeking to extend insurance protection to a broader portion of the population and advancing the role of insurance in society, in a socially responsible and sustainable way.”

Microinsurance is viewed as a viable and much-needed method of protecting some of the world’s most vulnerable and poorest people, who often reside in regions of the globe that are highly susceptible to natural disasters.

Typically, owing to various factors including a lack of education, funding and awareness, these areas of the world are often home to some of the lowest insurance penetration levels globally, ensuring severe economic and social impacts post-disaster and in many cases seriously prolonging the recovery stage, both in respect of infrastructure and finance.

And it’s these issues that Blue Marble aims to address and mitigate, with a long-term view of protecting those that are underserved by improving local level and global risk management capabilities.

Often microinsurance solutions are index-based or parametric, seeking to insurer disaster recovery and issues such as food security. As such technology is expected to play a key role in developing new microinsurance initiatives in such a way that they can be sustained without large amounts of subsidy.

Lamm-Tennant explained; “Collaborating with our venture partners, Blue Marble Microinsurance will create innovative products that meet the unique needs of its customers.”

The consortium is composed of a host of insurance and reinsurance firms, which includes; American International Group, Inc., Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited, Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC & Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd., Old Mutual plc., Transatlantic Reinsurance Company, XL Catlin, and Zurich Insurance Group.

According to Blue Marble the venture will aim, and is committed to establishing ten new microinsurance schemes over the next decade, utilising the expertise, knowledge and financial power of its members to ensure this.

Brian Duperreault, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Blue Marble founding company, Hamilton Insurance Group, commented on the scheme; “Blue Marble Microinsurance’s founding partners know that the ability to manage and finance risk is critical to the development of society, any society, but most urgently to those struggling to gain a stable toehold in their pursuit of education, jobs and a prosperous future.”

Continuing to explain that the “innovative research and development enabled by Blue Marble Microinsurance will bring affordable insurance products to the developing world. Technology is integral to this global project, but what drives it is the consortium’s collaboration, sense of purpose, and focus on the future.”

According to Blue Marble it is currently actively looking into opportunities in emerging Asia, Africa and Latin America, with the first venture expected to be launched during 2015.

“Blue Marble Microinsurance has identified several potential strategic partners and is in advanced discussions to establish these relationships,” advised the company.

Mike McGavick, CEO of founding Blue Marble member XL Catlin, also praised the new venture, saying; “The establishment of Blue Marble Microinsurance demonstrates this consortium’s commitment to providing access to insurance in regions of the world where it has been unavailable yet much needed. Blue Marble Microinsurance is poised to expand the insurance industry’s ability to make a difference for some of the world’s most underinsured regions, helping these societies grow and flourish.”