A donor-capitalized insurance facility, Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization (MiCRO), has been developed by a syndicate of stakeholders in an effort to empower Haiti’s microentrepreneurs to protect themselves against the economic aftermath of natural catastrophes.
MiCRO’s founding partners include Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re), a reinsurer and financial services group based in Zurich, Switzerland; Caribbean Risk Managers Limited (CaribRM), the risk analytics arm of CGM Gallagher Group, a Caribbean insurance brokerage; Guy Carpenter & Company, a US-based reinsurance intermediary; Mercy Corps, a US-based global relief and development agency; and Fonkoze, a Haitian microfinance institution (MFI). MiCRO was incorporated in March 2011, with Mercy Corps and Fonkoze as its founding investors.
MiCRO will seek to work with MFIs in Haiti to provide their microfinance clients with access to a catastrophe insurance product. Fonkoze Financial Services CEO Anne Hastings said, “There are far too many Haitians who work hard to save and build their assets, only to find them destroyed overnight by a hurricane, flood or earthquake…Microinsurance to manage these inevitable events is a prerequisite for escaping poverty and building a sustainable future” [1].
By: Alexandra Pattee, Research Associate
About Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re): Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re) is a reinsurer and financial services group based in Zurich, Switzerland. Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re) was founded in 1863 to offer financial products that enable risk-taking. The company operates through offices in approximately 20 countries. As of September 2010, Swiss Re reports total assets of USD 236 billion.
About Caribbean Risk Managers Limited (CaribRM): Caribbean Risk Managers Limited (CaribRM) was created as a result of the merger between GeoSY Limited, a consultancy, and the risk management arm of CGM Gallagher Group, an insurance brokerage based in the Caribbean. CaribRM offers hazard and risk modeling, business analytics, GIS-based data management systems and risk surveying and control solutions. CaribRM has offices in Barbados, Jamaica and Washington, DC.
About Guy Carpenter and Company: Guy Carpenter is a reinsurance intermediary that is headquartered in New York City and has offices in Europe, Africa, Asia and elsewhere in the Americas. The organization is involved in various types of insurance including agriculture, marine, energy, medical, professional, property, terror risk and workers’ compensation. Guy Carpenter’s major departments include GC Analytics, a group that helps clients quantitatively assess their risks; GCFac, which helps insurance agencies develop markets and leverage market information; GC Micro Risk Solutions, which specializes in the microfinance industry; and GC Securities, which provides investment banking services to the insurance industry. The organization’s financial information is not publicly available.
About Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps is a US-based global relief and development agency. Founded in 1979 as Save the Refugees Fund, Mercy Corps operates in 40 countries to provide disaster relief. As of June 2009, the organization had total assets of USD 163 million.
About Fonkoze: Fonkoze is a microfinance institution (MFI) in Haiti established in 1994 with the mission of “building the economic foundations for democracy in Haiti by providing the rural poor with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty”. As of 2009, Fonkoze had a gross loan portfolio of USD 4 million, total assets of USD 9.58 million, return on assets (ROA) of -25.9 percent and return on equity (ROE) of -144 percent.
Sources and Resources:
[1] Mercy Corps Press Release, “Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization (MiCRO) Created to Help Protect Haiti’s Micro Entrepreneurs”, http://www.mercycorps.org/pressreleases/24128
MicroCapital.org Article, December 6, 2010, “Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re) Partners with Vietnam Agribank Insurance Joint Stock Company (ABIC) To Launch Insurance Product Aimed at Protecting Microfinance Loans”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-swiss-reinsurance-company-limited-swiss-re-partners-with-vietnam-agribank-insurance-joint-stock-company-abic-to-launch-insurance-product-aimed-at-protecting-microfinance-loans/
MicroCapital.org Article, November 22, 2010, “Haitian Microfinance Industry Still Struggling in Wake of Earthquake, Increased Regulation on the Horizon”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-haitian-microfinance-industry-still-struggling-in-wake-of-earthquake-increased-regulation-on-the-horizon/
MicroCapital.org Article, October 28, 2010, “Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF) Releases $1.5m in Grants to Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fonkoze and Gheskio of Haiti”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-clinton-bush-haiti-fund-cbhf-releases-1-5m-in-grants-to-microfinance-institution-mfi-fonkoze-and-gheskio-of-haiti/
MicroCapital.org Article, January 28, 2010, “US Government Facilitates $2m Cash Transfer to Haitian Microfinance Institution (MFI) Fonkoze”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-us-government-facilitates-2m-cash-transfer-to-haitian-microfinance-institution-mfi-fonkoze/
MicroCapital.org Article, December 30, 2009, “Mercy Corps, a Global Relief and Development Organization, Fosters Long-Term Recovery in Tsunami-affected Aceh, Indonesia, through Microfinance”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-mercy-corps-a-global-relief-and-development-organization-fosters-long-term-recovery-in-tsunami-affected-aceh-indonesia-through-microfinance/
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe: Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited (Swiss Re), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Swiss+Reinsurance+Company+Limited+(Swiss+Re)
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe: Caribbean Risk Managers Limited (CaribRM), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Caribbean+Risk+Managers+Limited+%28CaribRM%29
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe: Guy Carpenter and Company, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Guy+Carpenter+and+Company
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe: Mercy Corps, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Mercy+Corps
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe: Fonkoze, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Fonkoze
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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