“Developing partnerships to insure the world’s poor”

Corporate Capability Statement

Mission: To get SUAVE (simple,

understood, accessible, valuable,

and efficient) microinsurance

products in the hands of 3 billion

people across the globe.

Introduction

Organization The MicroInsurance Centre office controls the project management, accounting, and consultant

involvement for all of its projects. All projects are led by Michael J. McCord, founder and president of

the MicroInsurance Centre, who remains responsible for coordinating with par tners and clients and

ensuring the success of the projects. Various aspects of certain projects are distributed to consultants

based on expertise, experience and demonstrated ability of the consultant.

The MicroInsurance Centre, LLC is a consulting firm dedicated to generating access to valuable

microinsurance products to 3 billion low-income people across the globe. This is accomplished by

working with regulated insurers and appropriate delivery channels who can efficiently provide simple,

market-responsive microinsurance products. Our clients include commercial insurers, foundations, bi-

and multi- lateral development agencies, regulators, NGOs and others. These organizations work with

us to ensure the best potential for success with their microinsurance activities. Our work with clients

includes various aspects of microinsurance, from product development and training to research and

advocacy. Our team has implemented microinsurance activities in over 70 countries during the last

twenty years.

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Staff

Michael J. McCord, President, brings over twenty years of experience in microfinance and microinsurance to the table, including time as the Regional Director for

microfinance programs in Africa before founding the MicroInsurance Centre in 2000. He has conducted extensive research in microinsurance and

microfinance and has published documents on case studies, pilot testing, roll-out, the feedback loop for microfinance institutions, and MFI accounting and

analysis. He is based out of Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

Katie Biese, Senior Project Manager, has over eight years of international development experience, including two and half years with microfinance initiatives

in Moldova and Nepal. She joined the MicroInsurance Centre in 2013 after earning a Master’s in Development Management from American University in

Washington, DC. She supports the team with project management, research, and business development, and managed the 2013 Latin America and 2014 Africa

landscape studies of microinsurance. She obtained the Associate Life Management Institute (ALMI) designation from LOMA in 2016 and is based out of Appleton,

Wisconsin, USA.

Dawn White, Assistant to the President of the MicroInsurance Centre. She has over 20 years of experience owning and managing her own business, along

with a decade of insurance background. She joined the MicroInsurance Centre as the Assistant to the President in December 2012. Dawn is very excited to be a

part of this brilliant team and making a real difference in the lives of others.

Mariah Mateo Sarpong, Project Manager/Communications Specialist, has been a member of the MIC since 2012, during which she has been a key

researcher and coordinator for the regional microinsurance landscape studies. Mariah’s international development experience includes projects in St. Kitts and

Nevis, Costa Rica, Uganda, and Sierra Leone as well as a Vittana fellowship in the microfinance sector in Ghana. Mariah holds a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology,

Spanish, and International Studies from Lawrence University and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Community Development Policy and Practice at the Carsey

School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and is based out of Basseterre, St. Kitts.

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Core Consultants

Clémence Tatin-Jaleran is an independent consultant with extensive actuarial training. She holds a Master’s degree in Financial and Actuarial Sciences

from the Financial and Insurance Sciences Institute in Lyon, France, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in France. She has ten years of experience

working in the insurance field, including six years in microinsurance. Additionally, she has substantial on-site product development experience and has

worked with microfinance institutions (MFIs), insurers, rural banks, and other non-profit organizations in Peru, Bolivia, Mali, Egypt, Bangladesh, India,

Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. She is based out of Vancouver, Canada.

Roland Steinmann is an independent consultant whose previous experience includes six years as a reinsurance underwriter for Swiss Re and two years

as a logistics consultant. Since 2006, Steinmann has run his own consulting business and he has acted as a consultant for the MicroInsurance Centre since

2008. He is also an active member of the MicroInsurance Network and is co-founder of the Fair Trade Insurance Initiative, which promotes innovative

insurance solutions for smallholders in developing countries. His work focuses on market research, product development and distribution channel

development. He is based out of Zurich, Switzerland.

The MicroInsurance Centre has the privilege of employing many expert consultants in microinsurance and other areas of the development field. The following consultants

constitute the core team of consultants that the MicroInsurance Centre works with frequently and closely to achieve not only project outputs but also organizational strategic

goals.

Eamon Kelly has over 20 years of actuarial experience in the private insurance sector in Ireland and Australia, primarily as a general insurance consultant.

Eamon was also a fellow at MicroFund for Women, a Jordanian MFI, leading in every aspect of the development and implementation of a hospital cash

product. His most recent work has been in the development sector, and he has acted as lead project manager and consultant to insurance initiatives in Southeast

Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the MENA region. He is based out of Saint-Denis, Réunion.

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Product Development

• The MicroInsurance Centre workswith organizations all around theglobe assisting them through someor all of the product developmentprocess to ensure that products areresponsible, professional, legal,prudent, marketable and profitable.The product development processincludes process planning andassessment, supply and demandside research, stakeholderworkshops and trainings, partnerselection, product design,partnership development andmanagement, pilot testing, roll out,review and assessment andcontinued monitoring to ensure theviability and profitability of theproduct.

Research

• The MicroInsurance Centre hasproduced a number of informativeresearch studies including: the MILKseries of client math studies, RCT(randomized control trial) studies,and business case studies, as well asinstitutional case studies, landscapemapping, pre-feasibility andfeasibility studies on various issueswithin the industry ranging fromregulatory framework to supply anddemand. We have worked withmany different organizations and ina wide variety of countries. Ourresearch has been published invarious academic publications andindustry periodicals.

Advocacy

• The MicroInsurance Centre leadstraining workshops at various levels,speaks in international and nationalforums and actively participates in,and often leads, various workinggroups on key topicsin microinsurance. With goodworking relationships amongnumerous insurance supervisorsand regulators around the worl, wefaciliatate dialog aboutmicroinsurance policy betweeninsurers and regulators to promotethe best ideas and practices.Advocacy and education are alwaysbuilt into our projects as part of ourmission to develop partnerships toinsure the world’s poor.

Services and Expertise The Microinsurance Centre promotes quality microinsurance through work in product development, research and advocacy (for a

description of each see below). The MicroInsurance Centre has extensive experience in market research, product development,

capacity building, pilot testing, process efficiencies, mentoring, partnership development and management, program and product

evaluation, actuarial pricing and risk assessment, technical support and microinsurance regulation and supervision.

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Throughout all consulting work, the MicroInsurance Centre is guided by four core philosophies: “SUAVE”, the “Magical Balance,” local

capacity building, and evolution of products; all of these have been built from years of experience with dozens of microinsurance

programs across the globe. The ultimate goal is to create SUAVE microinsurance products that have value for clients and

represent a business case (e.g. are sustainable) for the insurer and distribution channel.

The MicroInsurance Centre works with institutions

to ensure that each of the microinsurance products

has the following critical “SUAVE” characteristics:

The Magical Balance philosophy recognizes that there

needs to be value on both ends of the value chain: there

should be long-term, reasonable profit for insurers and

distributors on one end, and a product that provides clear

value for clients on the other. These two goals – business

case and client value – can often seem to conflict with

each other. The MicroInsurance Centre works with

partners to understand the interplay of business case and

client value, and to find that “magical balance” in which

they complement and strengthen each other.

We believe in the evolution of products; while credit life can serve

as a valuable entry point for insurance, and if done correctly

provides good value for clients, an institution’s microinsurance

offerings should not end there. There are many needs of low-

income clients in terms of risk management, as well as competition

from other providers and distribution channels. In order to develop

a range of products that benefit clients, and stay ahead of

competition by being known as innovative institutions that is

always working to help its clients, new products will be necessary.

The MicroInsurance Centre works with partners from the outset to

consider and plan for an evolution of products that meet the

variety of clients’ risk management needs.

As consultants we seek to support the development of local capacity; the MicroInsurance Centre is committed to transferring skills to our partners

in a way that they can continue to microinsurance evolution without continually requiring consultant assistance. Though our process does not

provide continual business for us from the same clients, it does create a more sustainable environment for the continued expansion of

microinsurance that benefits the low-income markets and our partners.

SUAVE Magical Balance Product Evolution

Local

Capacity

Value for clients

Business Case for prov iders and

distribution channels

The Magical Balance

Guiding Philosophies

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One of the MicroInsurance Centre’s core competencies is microinsurance product development (for which we wrote the book). Many of our various clients have risen to be internationally recognized as successful innovators in microinsurance including: Pioneer Insurance (Philippines), Star Microinsurance (Ghana), MicroFund for Women (Jordan), Banco Compartamos (Mexico) and many others. Our clients and what they have been able to do are the best sign of the quality we bring to a project. Additionally, over the years we have assisted various different consulting firms in their microinsurance development. The MIC’s process of microinsurance product development is detailed in our manual on microinsurance product development for MFIs.[1] In general the new product development process we follow is as shown in the graphic to the right. We consider product development in the broad sense to include everything from concept development to roll out and continual assessment, as well as development and assessment of supportive processes (we wrote that book too), regulations, meso-level support organizations and distribution relationships.

[1] McCord, Michael J. Microinsurance product development for microinsurance providers. IFAD, 2012.

Product Development – the MIC Approach

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In addition to incorporating advocacy and education into all of our projects, the MicroInsurance Centre Team frequently presents at conferences and delivers workshops and trainings worldwide. Below are just a few examples of our advocacy work during the 2015 fiscal year.

Toronto, Canada. ‘Microinsurance Matters’ at York University. 26 September, 2016.

Turin, Italy. 22nd Annual Boulder Microfinance Training (MFT) Program 2016. 18 July – 5 August, 2016. Cairo, Egypt. Microinsurance Learning Sessions: Paving the way for financial inclusion. 30-31 May, 2016

London, UK. Microinsurance Event for Actuaries. 12 May, 2016.

Casablanca, Morocco. 11th International Microinsurance Conference. 3-5 November, 2015

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Sanabel 2015 Conference. 20-21 October, 2015.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Foro Regional de Inclusión Financiera 2015. 14-15 October, 2015.

Indianapolis, U.S. 2015 CPCU Society Annual Meeting. 3-6 October, 2015.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Global Seminar on Disaster Risk Financing: Towards the Development of Effective Approaches to the Financial Management of Disaster Risks. 17-18 September, 2015.

Research Advocacy

Microinsurance pre-feasibility studies

Feasibility studies

Landscape studies

Business case

Client math

Regulatory framework

Supply and demand

Concept papers

Evaluations

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Major Clients

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Nature of Assignment Client Geographic Coverage Year of Assignment

Promote access to insurance services of quality, value and safety for low income groups and contribute to broader financial inclusion

World Bank Ethiopia 2016-2017

Develop a sustainable microinsurance training curriculum GIZ Nigeria 2016

Conduct a training program with the objective of developing the capacity and skills of insurance sector players

Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN)

Rwanda 2016

Implement Regulatory Road Map activities supporting inclusive insurance

A2ii / IAIS Colombia and Jamaica 2016

Facilitate development of a microinsurance framework for Egypt with EFSA and the market

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Egypt 2015-2016

Development of two case studies on proportionality in practice Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii / IAIS)

Global 2015-2016

Project Assessment, Regulatory study GIZ Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand 2015

Product Development, Regulatory study Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Belize 2014-2015

Landscape Studies - Regional Microinsurance Network (MIN) Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa 2014-2016

RCT on impact of timing of MI messaging on

microfinance client for improved understanding and

uptake of insurance

CGAP Colombia 2014 - 2015

Product design and implementation strategy Women’s World Banking Morocco, Uganda, Egypt, Brazil, México 2014 - 2016

Regulatory Impact Assessment GIZ Philippines 2014

Development of a Strategic Framework for Financial

Inclusion in Thailand Asian Development Bank (ADB) Thailand 2012 – 2015

Product design and implementation strategy Women’s World Banking Peru 2012 - 2013

Insurer mentoring GIZ Ghana 2012 - 2013

Client Math study Coffey International Development Cambodia 2012 - 2013

Selected Examples of Projects, Clients, and Locations

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Nature of Assignment (cont.) Client Geographic Coverage Date of Assignment

Major study of value of MI and MI business case (MILK

project) A major foundation Global 2010 - 2014

Training in microinsurance development, management,

delivery

Boulder Institute, USAID, Zurich Insurance, Bank Acadamie, PMN Pakistan, dozens of others

Global 2005 - 2014

Support the microinsurance component of MABS-4 project Chemonics / USAID Philippines 2011 - 2012

Insurer mentoring GTZ Ghana 2009 - 2011

Product development and complaints management legal structure

USAID/AED West Bank, Palestine 2009 - 2011

Midterm evaluations of three large microinsurance

grantees A major foundation

Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, India,

Pakistan, Philippines and others 2010

Africa Landscape study ILO Sub-Saharan Africa 2010

Strategy development and product design Women’s World Banking Jordan 2006-2010

General market evaluation Lloyd’s of London Worldwide 2010

Product development, TA to Microfinance Network,

microinsurance manual production IFAD Vietnam, Armenia, Global 2007 - 2010

Microinsurance benchmark data base business plan World Bank Global 2009 and 2010

Opportunities for distribution of microinsurance MICRA/Bank Andara Indonesia 2010

Six pre-feasibility studies KfW Azerbaijan, Albania. Georgia, Ukraine,

Uganda, and Romania 2004 - 2008

Country microinsurance assessment Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sri Lanka 2006 - 2007

Landscape study A major foundation World’s 100 Poorest Countries 2006

Three pre-feasibility landscape studies KfW, UNDP, Allianz, and GTZ India, Indonesia, and Laos 2005

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1045 N. Lynndale Drive, Appleton, WI, USA 54914 Phone: +1 (920) 257-2179 www.MicroInsuranceCentre.org info@MicroInsuranceCentre.org

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