The Fund Manager is LeapFrog Investments Ltd, incorporated in Mauritius in December 2008. LeapFrog Investments (Bermuda) Ltd, the Sponsor, was created in February 2008. The primary owners of the Sponsor and Principals of the Manager are Andrew Kuper, Jim Roth, Gary Herbert, Dominic Liber, and Doug Lacey; all bring extensive experience in investment and/or insurance and microinsurance in emerging markets. Dr. Kuper, the President and Founder of LeapFrog, is a former MD of Ashoka, an organization that has financed and connected 2000 social entrepreneurs in over 60 countries. He holds a PhD from Cambridge, where he was supervised by Amartya Sen. The first closing of the Fund was held on May 6, 2009 at about $44 million, raised from leading IFI and private investors including EIB, FMO, Triodos-Doen and Hivos-Triodos, Accion International, Omidyar Network (investment fund of Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay), Calvert Large Cap Growth Fund, Felipe Medina (Goldman Sachs Regional Director of Wealth Management), and the LeapFrog team.

IFC is proposing to invest up to $20 million in equity, not to exceed 20% of total capital commitments.

20.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan
Equity	20.0

* These investment figures are indicative

The Fund managers are mostly situated in Johannesburg, South Africa, with additional one-or two-person offices in Sydney, Edinburgh and Washington, DC. The Fund and Manager are incorporated and officially headquartered in Mauritius. The Fund will invest in insurance companies with offices in urban and suburban areas of Asian and African countries.

The Fund would serve as a catalyst for the development of the microinsurance industry throughout the target regions and would introduce insurance, savings and/or protection products that would otherwise not be available to the poor. In addition, the Fund will facilitate knowledge management and transfer which is crucial for the development of a healthy and dynamic primary microinsurance market and is necessary for a holistic micro risk protection/lending solution. Finally, it would stimulate additional demand by catering to populations who otherwise would not have considered conventional insurance. Specific development impacts are: Poverty Alleviation: Microinsurance will significantly alleviate poverty by stabilizing income levels for low-income and vulnerable populations, including dampening shocks that might leave families destitute. As a savings tool, it can contribute to wealth creation and the opening up of opportunities to this segment of the population. It will also enable lifestyle improvements and further integration with society at large. Demonstration effects: The project will demonstrate the business case for microinsurance and for microinsurance investment vehicles and encourage other private sector players to invest in this sector. It will accelerate the build-up of local capacity and broaden professionalism in the sector.

IFC will provide credibility to the Fund since it is the only investor with global expertise in both microfinance and insurance. IFC’s investment of up to $20 million is significant and will enable the Fund to reach a critical size, thus ensuring its success. IFC will provide critical market knowledge, contacts and support to the Fund from its experience in both microfinance and insurance. Specifically, it could link MFIs and insurance companies through the Fund to help expand the micro-insurance market, develop well-suited product offerings and provide access to additional revenue streams. IFC will bring its global experience and expertise in the microfinance and insurance sectors to the Fund through a representative on the Investor Representative Committee. In addition, IFC’s relationships with regulators and governments will be valuable since the success of insurance companies is highly dependent upon the regulatory environment.

This project is engaged in supporting micro-insurance business and has been classified as a Category C project according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Review Procedure. No further review is required. The project is required to inform IFC in the event of any change in nature or scope of its contemplated business or operations.