The Impact Insurance Facility (IIF) of the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) and the Prudential Financial Incorporated (PFI) Foundation, a unit of the US-based financial services company PFI, recently announced a program intended to: (1) develop microinsurance products for low-income households as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in Asia; and (2) provide technical support to four financial service providers operating in Latin American countries. The latter component will be carried out by “social finance fellows,” whom ILO will hire to provide advisory services concerning client risk management and insurance product development. The program budget has not been released.
Craig Churchill, the Chief of ILO’s Social Finance Programme, said, “[T]his project will provide capacity building to partners and the broader industry as well as generate new lessons about the risk management needs of the working poor. Insights from these pilots will be useful for the financial sector at large, including policy-makers.”
Founded in 1977, PFI Foundation is a nonprofit organization managed by the Prudential Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of PFI. The foundation’s primary activities include advocacy and grantmaking for projects focused on health, education and financial inclusion. During 2017, it disbursed grants totaling USD 50 million.
Founded in 1875 in the US city of Newark, New Jersey, PFI is a holding company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management and other financial products in 31 countries. As of December 2017, PFI reported total assets of USD 832 billion and annual revenue of USD 60 billion.
Launched in 2008 by the US-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IIF is housed at the ILO’s Social Finance Programme. Formerly known as the Microinsurance Innovation Facility, the entity’s goal is to enable the insurance industry, governments and their partners to expand “impact” insurance with an emphasis on agriculture, health, life and property coverage. IIF also provides technical assistance. In 2017, it reached 559,000 low-income households, smallholder farmers and SMEs via projects in 11 countries.
Founded in 1919, the International Labour Organization (ILO), is an agency of the United Nations, an organization promoting peace and improved living standards. The objective of ILO is “to advance opportunities for men and women to obtain productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity”. Headquartered in Switzerland, ILO has a budget of USD 784 million for the biennium 2018-2019.
By Nicholas Galimberti, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
IIF press release
http://www.impactinsurance.org/news/2018/july/partnership-prudential-foundation
IIF background
http://www.impactinsurance.org/about/what-is-facility
ILO annual report
http://www.impactinsurance.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/II_Annual_Report_2017_EN_Web.pdf
ILO Social Finance Programme background
http://www.impactinsurance.org/about/fellows
PFI background
https://www.prudential.com/links/about/corporate-social-responsibility
PFI sustainability report
https://www.prudential.com/wps/wcm/connect/66debe96-2e00-463b-b197-e6a1de5eb7ea/2017_Sustainability_Report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=mgYJo5x&CVID=mgYJo5x&CVID=mgYJo5x&CVID=mgYJo5x
PFI annual report
http://www3.prudential.com/annualreport/report2018/annual/images/Prudential-AR2017.pdf
MicroCapital Brief; June 10, 2015; International Labour Office’s (ILO’s) Impact Insurance Facility, Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) Seek to Stimulate Innovation in Microinsurance in Sub-Saharan Africa
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-international-labour-offices-ilos-impact-insurance-facility-agence-francaise-de-developpement-afd-seek-to-stimulate-innovation-in-microinsurance-in-sub-sahar/
MicroCapital Brief; March 8, 2016; Prudential Financial to Invest $350m in African Insurers, To Be Managed by LeapFrog
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-prudential-financial-to-invest-350m-in-african-insurers-to-be-managed-by-leapfrog/
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