Microinsurance : Insights from a Historical Approach

This paper provides guidance to the microinsurance movement on how organisational structure impacts performance. We develop these insights through analysis of the Friendly Society Movement, a previously untapped and rich history of insurance for the poor. A particular structure, the Affiliated Order, provides a role model for exceptional performance in three key criteria of sustainability, popularity and impact. Every major insurer for the poor during the movement is analysed in contrast to the Affiliated Order to explore the relationship between different structural elements of an insurer and its performance