History of ICMIF

ICMIF was formed in 1922 by a group of five cooperative insurance companies under the inspirational leadership of Joseph Lemaire, the then CEO of la Prévoyance Sociale (now known as P&V) Belgium, as a specialized arm of the International Co-operative Alliance (the Alliance ) to enable them to network and share information.

A reinsurance broking service was set up in 1949 to encourage reciprocal reinsurance between members and to respond to the smaller cooperatives’ struggle to find reinsurance capacity on the open market. This service continued until 2005 but the demand for reinsurance knowledge and information-exchange is still a driver for ICMIF membership today as witnessed at the MORO Conference, where business transactions occur during the Mini Monte-Carlo.

In the 1960s, a development function was established to help the creation of new cooperative insurers in emerging markets. Over the years ICMIF and its members have helped set up over 25 mutual insurers including successful organizations such as NTUC Income (Singapore), CIC Kenya (Kenya) and Seguros Multiples (Puerto Rico) to name just a few. ICMIF’s development activities continue today with a focus on our 5-5-5 Strategy.