The 13th International Microinsurance Conference will take place in Peru from 7-9 November 2017. Approximately 400 participants and experts from around the world will discuss and identify ways of accelerating growth and economic viability in microinsurance. The conference will be hosted by APESEG in cooperation with the Munich Re Foundation and the Microinsurance Network.
Conference themes
The conference aims to distill and disseminate information on key developments in insurance for emerging consumers. Sessions will engage all stakeholders to help them recognise and optimise opportunities in the low-income markets. To cover subjects that are currently of interest, the conference organisers are calling for proposals on the following topics.
New microinsurance and mass insurance products in the fields of:
1. Health
2. Life
3. Accident
4. Funeral
5. Agriculture/Natural disasters
6. Insurance combined with other financial products
7. Mobile insurance
8. Insurance for SMEs
The organisers are interested in how new technologies are being applied, how “fintech” firms can disrupt existing approaches and what the role of the government is in supporting market development, the role of subsidies, and how the private sector can complement social programs of the government. The organisers are also particularly interested in the opportunities and risks of mobile insurance, as well as the role of individual stakeholders.
Following the G7 decision to substantially increase the number of people insured against climate risks, the organisers are interested in understanding the current development of micro, meso and macro-solutions, including index-based products, to protect low-income clients against natural disasters.
Submissions should explore ways in which products can be structured to ensure they benefit the target market. They should also identify innovative approaches to managing large numbers of small-ticket policies. Presentations that include details relating to product outreach, in addition to the performance indicators, will be given preference.
9. Innovative distribution models beyond mobile. Given severe infrastructure restrictions across many rural regions, distribution challenges are particularly severe. Presentations should focus on rural clients, but may also include other groups of clients that are difficult to reach. We invite insurance providers, intermediaries, distribution channels and especially “fintech” firms to present evidence-based case studies that highlight how they can improve insurance distribution in under-served regions. How were these channels used to overcome geographical, infrastructural and societal constraints? The organisers are interested in case studies on the set-up of a mutually beneficial partnership and how to manage those partnerships pro-actively.
10. Consumer education: There is a need to build the capacity of people and institutions on many levels, including the financial literacy of the target market and the insurance expertise of delivery channels, while risk carriers need a better understanding of the needs and preferences of the poor. Organisations with successful capacity-building experience at any of these levels are invited to submit applications to present their methods, tools and strategies at the conference. Presentations should include a cost-benefit analysis assessing the effectiveness of the approaches used.
11. Improving business processes: Keeping costs down remains a key challenge in the field of microinsurance and mass insurance. We invite organisations that have worked on change management and improving their business processes to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction to share those experiences. The organisers are interested in innovations in information technology used to manage premium collection, claims and claims payment, as well as (customer) requests and complaints. Presentations should ideally include detailed performance indicators and trend analyses.
12. Big data. The availability of data remains a challenge for the development of microinsurance and mass insurance. In the absence of reliable mortality tables and weather stations in many developing markets, for example, the mantra of big data as the key for success may prove to be rather a vision than a reality. However, with the availability of new and affordable technologies, data collection and analysis may also support the development of microinsurance and mass insurance for the unserved population. The organisers are interested in efficient tools for data collection and analysis, and their application in developing markets.
13. Scientific track – economic analysis of microinsurance markets. Together with the Center for Economic Analysis of Risk at Georgia State University, the International Microinsurance Conference will include a scientific track to encourage rigorous economic analysis of microinsurance markets. Empirical, theoretical and policy-oriented papers are invited on topics such as:
- Behavioural economics applied to insurance
- Factors that influence the demand for insurance and allow prediction of uptake
- The role of temporary and permanent subsidies
- Appropriate benchmarks to measure the success of microinsurance programmes
- Contract design to mitigate adverse selection and moral hazard
- Documentation of welfare impact and customer value
- Whether informal and formal risk-sharing mechanisms are complements or substitutes
- Policies to support market development and ensure consumer value
- Actuarial reserving issues
All submissions intended for the scientific track must clearly indicate how their proposed session is relevant for practitioners and/or policymakers.
Submission of proposals
- All proposals will be reviewed by the Conference Steering Committee.
- Proposals for an individual presentation or a full session can be submitted through the online submission form available from the conference website. To submit a proposal, please complete the online proposal form in English. Please note that no other format can be accepted.
- You can attach one explanatory document in Acrobat (.pdf) or Word (.doc) format.
- For submissions under “Scientific track”, an electronic version of the draft paper in Acrobat (.pdf) or Word (.doc) format must be attached.
Hosting a full session: Selected slots of 90/120 minute sessions can be allocated to organisations wishing to organise and host a full session. The hosting organisation will be named in the agenda and conference report as a content partner of the 13th International Microinsurance Conference.
The content of these sessions must focus on a specific topic addressing specific questions that are relevant to a broader audience. Panellists should ideally represent a broad range of stakeholders and/or have a broad geographic background.
- The hosting organisation will be responsible for inviting speakers and organising the session in coordination with the organisers of the conference.
- The travel costs of speakers/facilitators must be covered by the hosting organisation.
- Up to four speakers/facilitators will be granted admission free of charge.
- Speakers must be registered by means of the online registration form.
- Speakers/facilitators must be confirmed by 15 September 2017 at the latest.
- The room will be allocated by the conference organisers.
- Room arrangements cannot be changed.
If you would like to host a full session, please submit a draft outline of the session to the conference organisers using the
proposal submission form. The proposal must include tentative speakers as well as the key questions to be discussed.
Individual presentations: Proposals for individual presentations must include concrete lessons learnt and recommendations for the audience. Submissions based on the details of actual results will be preferred.
Speakers and facilitators invited directly by the conference organisers will be granted free admission to the conference. Limited funding is also available, upon application, for economy-class travel and the hotel expenses of speakers and facilitators from non-profit organisations (excluding large national and international donor organisations). Applications for travel grants subsequent to the submission of a proposal cannot be accepted. There is no limit to the number of abstracts that can be submitted by an organisation, although travel grants are limited to one speaker per organisation.
Timeline and acceptance
| Submission deadline for proposals and draft paper |
15 May 2017 |
| Application deadline for rapporteurs |
30 June 2017 |
| Notification of acceptance – Start of registration |
15 July 2017 |
| Submission of draft presentations for the conference |
15 September 2017 |
| Submission of final presentations and papers for the conference |
15 October 2017 |
