A number of insurance stalwarts including American International Group and Zurich Insurance Group plan to launch microinsurance ventures designed to improve risk protection for underserved markets in developing countries.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd., Transatlantic Reinsurance Company and XL Group are also part of the consortium.

Together, they’ll be forming a microinsurance consortium and microinsurance venture incubator, or MVI. According to the launch announcement, the MVI is Bermuda-based and designed to create markets to provide risk protection to underserved markets in developing countries.

Plans call for launching 10 microinsurance ventures over the next decade, with the first coming out in 2015. Focal points include Latin America, Africa and the emerging Asian market. Executives from Marsh & McLennan, AIG, Zurich and Guy Carpenter & Co. announced the initiative during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland.

Source: Guy Carpenter/Marsh & McLennan