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The MicroInsurance Centre is proud to announce the newest member of our team Felipe Botero 

Felipe Botero will serve as the Mass Market Insurance Specialist here at MIC.
Felipe recently joined the Microinsurance Centre as an insurance specialist focused on Mass Market programs and “Developing partnerships to insure the world’s poor”.  Formerly, Botero was Vice President of Global Technology and Operations at MetLife, where he spent more than 20 years in a variety of roles.
At MetLife, Botero applied his insurance industry, technology and program management skills in the implementation of multiple global regulatory and compliance programs, as well as the integration of several multi-national M&A transactions. 
Over the past decade, Botero has worked with various international organizations that focus on the development of appropriate insurance products and services for low-income people around the globe.  He has participated in research studies, assessments and business development initiatives. 
Botero holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Queens College, a Master’s of Science degree in Systems Engineering from New York Polytechnic University and an MBA in Finance from New York University. Botero served four years in the US Army.  He is a Fellow of LOMA and the Aspen Institute.

Felipe honored us with his presence during his recent visit to Appleton!

 Pictured above, Michael J. McCord, Felipe Botero, Jackie Rogers and Katie Biese 

Recent Events

 MILK Tour so far a huge success; one stop left in Bogotá, Colombia!

With well-attended events in Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Munich, Manila, Miami, Dar es Salaam, Singapore, Johannesburg, Abuja and Lagos the MILK tour has been incredibly well-received. Participants have been impressed by the material, calling it an “eye opener” and "inspiring." The event focuses the key issues of client value and business case in microinsurance, and the balance of these two sometimes conflicting goals. Drawing on three years of research with dozens of microinsurance programs across the globe, key members of the MicroInsurance Centre’s Microinsurance Learning & Knowledge (MILK) Project team are presenting the key insights and lessons learned for insurers, distributors, and intermediaries. You may also review some interesting articles printed in response to the MILK presentations.  Click on the links below-

NAICOM to restructure compulsory insurance scheme  (in English)

Mikropolicen: Nachhaltigeres Geschäftsmodell gefordert  (in German)

Claims processing time critical to microinsurance success, stakeholders say (in English)

NAICOM Set To Reform Nigerian Insurance Policy (in English)

ALSO the MicroInsurance Centre is thrilled and honored to see that the Nigeria National Insurance Commission is using the MicroInsurance Centre's well known SUAVE approach to microinsurance products. See page 3 of the below document link-

NAICOM-Guidelines for Microinsurance in Nigeria  

MILK TOUR BUZZ CONTINUES......see Michael McCord quoted in the latest edition of Global Envision....click the link to see the article in its entirety......

http://www.globalenvision.org/2012/11/21/philippine-life-insurers-find-runaway-success-mfi-partnerships

Coping with Financial Shocks, Insurance is one Tool of Many
Click here to follow this exciting blog post by Emily Zimmerman which is part of the series, Microinsurance Lessons from the MILK Project. Co-written with Barbara Magnoni and Laura Budzyna, the blog post expands on client value dicussions.

 *See exciting reactions from some of the attendees below**

"Two thumbs up for the MILK project! The MILK summary 'Beyond the Actuary's guess' is a must-read. If the MILK tour comes to your town, go out and watch it." -Martin Hintz, Microinsurance Expert and Project Manager, Allianz SE

“I am very impressed by the scope and level of detail of MILK’s research and conclusions. This takes our understanding of microinsurance a great leap forward and will be very useful for future work on microinsurance.”  Thomas Wiechers, Advisor (Insurance Markets) Project „Making Finance Work for Africa“ (MFW4A), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

“The results of the MILK-project help to better understand the (financial) risk management of the poor and what role insurance can and cannot play to improve those. It clearly shows the benefit of microinsurance but also how important it is to understand the client. The MILK Briefs are a “Must-read” for every microinsurance practitioner and should become part of any future microinsurance curriculum” -Dirk Reinhard, Vice Chairman, Munich Re Foundation

"I really appreciate your efforts to provide us with this training on MILK. The knowledge I acquired from your work will provide me with a better approach to my clients." -Eric Oba, Keystone Banking

 "I found the presentation quite insightful as it was refreshing to hear and review facts from other microinsurance markets across the globe.  I see us going back to the drawing board on some projects at hand based on the additional information from the session."  -Talbi D. Olatayo, Travel and Retail, Zenith General Insurance

“Michael and Rick painstakingly took us through the “ins and outs” of the microinsurance industry across the globe, they were patient and answered all of our questions. The real life case studies helped us to better understand the data and extrapolate the findings to the Nigerian environment. The session was insightful and relatable to our local environment.”  -Isioma Olowu, Product Development, Zenith Insurance

“My take home for yesterday's MILK session is that having the fore knowledge that "Nigerian insurance buyers are both "price and trust" sensitive. We need to be innovative in identifying some channels that will help customers to begin discovering the "value" to buy the insurance on their own. The future of insurance in Nigeria lies with S.U.A.V.E. Microinsurance" -Leo Akah,Deputy Director of the National Insurance Commission,NAICOM

"The researchers are obviously passionate about their topic and shared a great deal of that passion with us. The messages delivered by their work were an eye opener; microinsurance may be maturing as a business model, but there is so much still left to do for it to become an actual service!"-Alexia Hetzel, Project Officer, Communications and Knowledge Management, ADA

"The Milk class is a true tour-de-force. Years of research and learnings packed into a couple of engaging hours with such precision that you don’t get lost in the wealth of insights, and which incidentally will trigger some paradigms to shift!" -Veronique Faber, Executive Director, the Microinsurance Network

"The 15 MILK case studies provide excellent evidence and close the gap between ‘anecdotal assumptions’ and hard facts, even if some results may have been already anticipated."-Gaby Ramm, Independent Microinsurance Consultant

“Thought-provoking, engaging and very insightful: The MILK workshop on the magical balance between client value and business case is definitely worth attending by anyone with an interest in microinsurance”  -Annalisa Bianchessi, Communications Coordinator, Microinsurance Network 

“Thanks for the great presentation” -Alex Nisichenko, Investment Officer, LeapFrog Investments

 "For me it was a very educative session in the ‎sense that, it made me appreciate the different types of products and operation around the world.  Most importantly, to have the team present to answer questions was great.  It also brought into light, the real benefits of the products we offer to the clients- whether it meets their needs or not.  ‎For me, what I learnt from the presentation was that the success of a microinsurance operation does not only depend on the CreditLife products, but on diverse distribution channel and innovative products that will meet the needs of the low income earner."-Afua Boahemaa Donkor, Executive Director, Star Microinsurance 

“Thank you so much for the presentation today, it was informative and edifying.“-Bolorunduro Joshua Segun, NIGERIAN INSURERS ASSOCIATION

Pictured above, Rick Koven, Michael J. McCord and Barbara Magnoni presenting MILK in Abuja, Nigeria, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Frankfurt, Germany

Watch for details on our upcoming MILK presentation in Bogotá, Colombia - We'd love to see you there!

NEWS!

The MicroInsurance Centre is honored to be metioned in the latest edition of "The Economist". Click here for the full article.

The March 2014 edition of Enterprise Development and Microfinance in now online. This issue includes articles written by our very own Michael J. McCord, Barbara Magnoni, Katie Biese and Emily Zimmerman. The focus of this edition is microinsurance. For all of the exciting details click here.

Is there a business case for microinsurance intermediaries? MILK interviewed management of 4 intermediaries and reviewed 5 years of data; get the analysis and conclusions here.

Deflating the Promise of Using Remittances to Cope with Financial Shocks - read the new post by MILK's Barbara Magnoni on the Financial Access Initiative's blog

MILK is on tour! Get the key insights and lessons learned from the multi-year project at one of 2 remaining sessions in Nigeria (see homepage for details).  

Balancing business case and client value: MILK took a detailed look at business case and client value in health microinsurance in Kenya. Read the full publication, or get an overview in Rick Koven's post on the Center for Financial Inclusion's blog!

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