In a recent interview with the Indian online news platform VCCircle, Mr Jim Roth, Principal at LeapFrog Investments, a private equity microinsurance fund, said that of the fund’s USD 110 million in capital, it would commit USD 30 to 37 million to microinsurance products in India.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: LeapFrog Invests $6.8m in AllLife, a South African HIV and Diabetes Microinsurer
LeapFrog Investments, a for-profit, private equity microinsurance fund, has invested ZAR 50 million (USD 6.8 million) in AllLife, a South African insurer for people with HIV and diabetes. AllLife provides life insurance only to those who follow an appropriate health monitoring and treatment program, enabling it to maintain more competitively priced coverage. Mr. Ross Beerman, Managing Director of AllLife said: “These are potential policyholders, willing to pay for reasonably priced insurance and willing to take steps to manage their disease so that they lead long and productive lives. From a business risk and profitability perspective, of course they’re insurable – we simply had to invent systems to monitor and support them in the right ways.”
MICROCAPITAL.ORG BRIEF: SCOR Invests in LeapFrog Investments to Gain Experience in Microinsurance Sector
According to The Review, an insurance magazine, the Paris-based reinsurer, SCOR Group, has invested an undisclosed amount in LeapFrog Investments, a microinsurance fund with USD 44 million in equity. A statement issued by SCOR stated, “Our investment in LeapFrog is a demonstration of [our] support of a socially-responsible sector such as microinsurance.” SCOR also said that the “strict investment return criteria applied … to all its investments” was also applicable in this instance. Additionally, SCOR’s CFO, Mr. Paolo de Martin, will be joining LeapFrog’s advisory board.
MEET THE BOSS: Interview with Andrew Kuper, President and Founder of LeapFrog Investments Ltd.
Dr. Andrew Kuper is President and Founder of LeapFrog, the world’s first microinsurance fund, which he founded in 2007. He was previously a Managing Director of Ashoka, a support organization for social entrepreneurs. He has worked with microfinance institutions Grameen and BRAC, and is the author of two books on globalization. He holds a PhD from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: MFX Solutions Closes First Currency Hedge Transaction; $4 million Currency Swap With MicroVest
MFX Solutions Inc., a company providing currency hedging solutions designed specifically for microfinance, closed its first hedging transaction, a USD 4 million currency swap with MicroVest I, LP. The cross-currency swap transaction allowed MicroVest I, a Washington DC-based microfinance investment fund, to make a USD 4 million, 3-year loan in Columbian pesos to Fundacion Mundo Mujer, a Columbian-based microfinance institution. [3]
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Opportunity International’s MicroEnsure of the United Kingdom to Launch Microinsurance Program for Climate Change and Crop Failure in India
MicroEnsure, an insurance intermediary established in 2005, stated that it plans to launch a microinsurance scheme next year for up to 600,000 farmers in India’s Kolhapur province. MicroEnsure is also a subsidiary of Opportunity International, a global non-profit microfinance network, which was formed in 1974, has assets totaling USD 736 million as of 2007 and lends to over 1 million people globally. The plan will insure farmers against their rice crops failing due to drought or heavy rains. Furthermore, the plan is to help farmers access larger loans to pay for seeds and equipment. According to the World Bank, India’s rural population account for about 72 percent of the India’s 1.1 billion people, and most of the rural poor rely on rain-fed agriculture.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Kenya’s K-Rep Bank Brings in New Manager as a Response to $4.4m Loss in 2008
K-Rep Bank, a Kenyan commercial bank that targets the microfinance sector, appointed Gerard Monteiro as the new Chief Operations Advisor after reporting a Sh 349 million (USD 4.4 million) loss for 2008. It is hoped that Mr. Monteiro, a 33-year veteran of the banking and microfinance sectors, will help to reverse the five-year low-profitability trend K-Rep Bank has faced.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: FMO Invests $10 Million in Sri Lankan LOLC Micro Finance Company
Sri Lankan company Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC (LOLC) will launch LOLC Micro Finance Company (LOLC MF) with a USD 10 million loan and equity injection from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). FMO is investing USD 2 million in equity, USD 1.5 million as a convertible loan and USD 6.5 million as a senior loan. FMO will own 20 percent of LOLC MF. This will be the first Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI) to have foreign shareholding. LOLC MF already has a Rs 2.3 billion (USD 21.2 million) loan portfolio which has a non-performing loan ratio on a portfolio-of-risk basis of around 5 percent.
PRESS RELEASE: Nicaragua: Banex Gives More Opportunities
Source: Banex.
MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL FEATURE: 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks, Part 3 of 3
December 10, MicroCapital.org featured Part 2 of a series on 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks. Previously, detailed information was provided on institutions with less than USD 100 million in assets. Here, in Part 3, we provide detailed financial and outreach information on microbanks with total assets greater than USD 100 million and less than USD 200 million. The institutions are presented in ascending order based on asset size.
MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL FEATURE: 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks, Part 2 of 3
On December 5, MicroCapital.org featured Part 1 of a series on 2007 Equity Investments in Small and Medium Sized Microbanks. Here, in Part 2, we provide detailed financial and outreach information on microbank’s with total assets under USD 100 million. The institutions are presented in ascending order based on asset size.