Fund Follows Scots Risk Pioneers by Insuring HIV South Africans
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More than 250 years after two clergymen in Edinburgh came up with the world’s first insurance fund based on predictions of life expectancy, investment manager Jim Roth is trying to profit from the industry’s next evolution.
The co-founder of private equity firm Leapfrog Investments is buying stakes in companies selling micro-insurance, low-premium policies sold to people in emerging markets who previously couldn’t afford to buy them. His first purchase, in December 2009, was All Life Ltd., which sells life cover for people infected with HIV in South Africa.