An innovative microinsurance venture incubator has been set up in Bermuda with the aim of helping to bring insurance and risk protection to billions of people in areas of the world underserved by the global insurance market.

The microinsurance venture incubator (MVI) holding company will have a three-person management team, to design and launch an intended 10 microinsurance ventures in emerging economies during the next 10 years. The markets being evaluated at the moment are Africa, Latin America and emerging areas of Asia.

The MVI project was announced today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The consortium of companies behind the initiative are AIG, Aspen Insurance Holdings, Catlin Group, Guy Carpenter & Company, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Hamilton Insurance Group, Transatlantic Reinsurance Company, XL Global Services and Zurich Insurance Group.

“Innovative research and development enabled by the MVI will make affordable insurance products accessible to millions in the developing world, greatly reducing the cost of distribution on a global scale through reverse innovation could be one the most enduring legacies of this project,” said Brian Duperreault, chief executive officer of Hamilton Insurance Group.

The CEO-elect of the new MVI is Joan Lamm-Tennant, who is global chief economist and risk strategist with Guy Carpenter. She said: “Endeavors of this scope and ambition would not be possible without the support and vision of our founding leaders.

“Our differentiated strategy is to learn and respond to the risk needs of the underserved. By forging strategic alliances with entities that have direct and trusted relationships, we will understand the needs of the customer, and subsequently identify specific ventures and solutions accordingly.

“I am excited about this unique business model. It has been designed to allow for the long term focus needed to balance profitability with social impact. Collaborative ownership enables the MVI to access the vast and specialised knowledge and resources of founding firms to the benefit of the underserved.”

• A fuller version of this story will appear in tomorrow’s Royal Gazette.