Leapfrog to invest $25M in PH

MANILA, Philippines—Leapfrog Investments, the world’s first micro-insurance fund, has committed to invest about $25 million in the Philippines to provide different kinds of insurance to the country’s “middle poor.”

In a briefing on Tuesday, LeapFrog partner Stephane Chatonsky said the company was in talks with “the most significant life and non-life insurers” in the country for a possible partnership.

Once a deal is signed, he said products targeting the “middle poor” sector, or individuals who were classified poor but could afford to pay for some insurance coverage, would be rolled out.

“I would be very disappointed if we don’t see a deal closing in 2011,” he said. “We’ll possibly get two deals signed with companies that are not catering to the same market.”

He said the first product that LeapFrog and its potential partner would launch would likely be life insurance. Non-life and health insurance could follow in the future.

The premium for these micro-insurance products would range from $2-$5 a month.

LeapFrog aimed to insure about 2.5 million low-income, “vulnerable” people in the country, 10 percent of the 25 million beneficiaries that the company was targeting globally. The products that the company and its partners could offer included life, health, property, impaired life, accidental death and disability, and weather index.

Partners could be insurers or distribution channels such as microfinance institutions, retail chains, mobile phone operators, church groups, or non-government organizations.

The insurer’s other priority markets are South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, India, and Indonesia.