Microinsurance

CelsiusPro AG is a global weather risk management player and winner of the 2009 Swiss Insurance Award for Innovation. The company has a history of structuring and distributing weather solutions via its proprietary platform. CelsiusPro offers a large number of standardized contracts and fully customized solutions on weather parameters such as precipitation, temperature, snow, sun hours and wind. Customizing weather hedges across all weather dependent industries leverages structuring expertise. Data from official weather stations is used for weather products for price calculations, contract specifications and payout conditions; currently over 2500 weather stations across the globe are available. The internet based weather platform allows efficient execution (price calculation and purchase), reporting and settlement for multi stakeholder schemes.

The Microinsurance Innovation Facility was established in 2008 to support the extension of insurance to millions of low-income people in the developing world, with the overall aim of reducing their vulnerability to risk.

The primary objective of the Facility is to increase the availability of better insurance products for a greater number of low-income households.

To do this, we need to learn:

• to what extent insurance products can help low-income people to manage risk
• what insurance products are appropriate and how to provide them
• how to develop an insurance culture among the poor

These objectives involve engaging in activities aimed at stimulating the market for microinsurance among low-income people - activities that support the development of insurance products, the emergence of institutional models and partnerships, and the education of potential consumers on the utility and value of insurance.

The Access to Insurance Initiative is a global programme designed to strengthen the capacity and understanding of insurance supervisors, to facilitate their role in expanding access to insurance markets, and to support the implementation of sound regulatory and supervisory frameworks consistent with international standards.

The goal of the Access to Insurance Initiative is to enhance broad-based, demand-oriented and sustainable access to insurance for low-income clients; thereby growing financial inclusion in the insurance sphere.

The initiative is a partnership between the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), GTZ, FinMark Trust, the International Labour Organization, among others organizations.  GTZ hosts the Secretariat.