Holcim Uses Cut-Price Insurance to Tap Emerging Markets Clients

Holcim Ltd., the world’s second-biggest cement maker, is teaming up with an insurance company to sell building materials and homes to Indonesians as it seeks to benefit from the future middle class in the emerging markets.

So-called microinsurance costs the customer as little as 67 cents a year and is designed to help low-income individuals limit their financial risk when they buy construction material or fertilizers. The policy offered by Holcim of Jona, Switzerland, pays out when a house is struck by an earthquake or tsunami, allowing first-time home builders to protect themselves when they make a large investment.