JOHANNESBURG, December 2 /PRNewswire/ -- LeapFrog Investments has announced a ZAR 50 million (over US$6 million) investment in AllLife, the innovative South African insurer serving people living with HIV and diabetes. The investment brings together LeapFrog, the leading microinsurance investment fund, and AllLife, one of Africa's most innovative insurance businesses. The announcement took place after World AIDS Day.
AllLife has developed a distinctive and profitable business model, reaching customers that other insurers have been unable to access, says Gary Herbert, a LeapFrog Principal. LeapFrog is providing AllLife's team with support to grow their client base by several multiples, and expertise to help management cascade their unique systems into new products and markets.
AllLife, a pioneer in continuous underwriting, links insurance products to an adherence management program. The program ensures clients manage their health appropriately, routinely alerting them to potential health concerns and helping them take action to maintain their wellbeing - such as regularly testing and taking anti-retroviral medications. As a result, AllLife offers more competitively priced products, and covers people whom the insurance industry has often regarded as uninsurable.
No one who is willing to manage their disease appropriately should be denied life insurance, says Ross Beerman, Managing Director of AllLife. These are potential policyholders, willing to pay for reasonably priced insurance, and willing to take steps to manage their disease so that they lead long and productive lives. From a business risk and profitability perspective, of course they're insurable - we simply had to invent systems to monitor and support them in the right ways.
AllLife's world-class team and strong strategic plan position it to continue a rapid growth trajectory - its client base grew by 250% last year. AllLife targets reaching 50,000 HIV+ and diabetic policyholders in just a few years, generating strong profits and significant social impact.
In total, 250,000 policyholders and dependents will enjoy the financial security that insurance provides. Most have been unable to obtain insurance or could do so at very high cost - preventing them from taking out home loans, starting businesses, or engaging in other economic activities requiring insurance. Access to insurance has also been shown to reduce stigma associated with HIV, and measurably improve health outcomes. According to Beerman, the company sees an average 15% improvement in clients' health, just from having an AllLife insurance policy.
We saw in this extraordinary company an opportunity to generate meaningful profits for investors while ending the exclusion of thousands of families from life insurance and participation in the economy, says Ingo Weber, an Investment Committee Member of LeapFrog and a former Managing Director at Swiss Re. LeapFrog's Founder and President, Andrew Kuper, concluded: For anyone wondering if it's possible to do well by doing good, today that question is answered.
LeapFrog Investments manages the world's first microinsurance fund. Launched with President Bill Clinton in 2008, LeapFrog has raised US$47 million to date from leading banks, funds, and microfinance and insurance investors. Its profit-with-purpose investment approach has been hailed by many global leaders as a new frontier for alternative investment and microfinance. www.leapfroginvest.com
AllLife designs, distributes and administers affordable life insurance products for individuals living with HIV or Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus who commit to following an appropriate health monitoring and treatment program. Since 2005 AllLife has provided affordable cover for thousands of people living with HIV, while improving their health through the adherence management program. AllLife products are reinsured by Gen Re, part of the Berkshire Hathaway Group.
SOURCE: LeapFrog Investments
CONTACT: Gary Herbert, LeapFrog, garyherbert@leapfroginvest.com,+27-82-898-0361; Ross Beerman, AllLife, ross@alllife.co.za, +27-82-337-7654
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