A surprising item on yesterday's newswires was an Accenturestudy revealing that two-thirds of the world's biggest insurerswere planning to expand operations outside of their home marketsover the next 12 months, with 75 percent of respondents viewing thecurrent economy as as opportunity for growth.

On second thought, maybe it isn't that surprising. The studyincluded both property-casualty and life insurers, both of whichhave been aware for awhile that emerging markets are wherelarge number of people with disposable incomes have people andproperty to protect, some of them for the first time.

On a related note, I noticed an item about how a Bolivianunit of Zurich Financial Services is teaming up with BancoSol, amicrofinance bank, to offer a form of life insurance to Bolivianemigrants in Spain. The coverages come in four forms, all based ona $10,000 coverage to return a decedent's body to Bolivia in caseof death, with annual premiums ranging from $57 to $129.

This is a pretty creative way to address a socio-economic trend:Bolivian emigration to Spain has increased dramatically throughoutthis decade.

There are opportunities like this right in our backyard. Arecent study by the Minneapolis Foundation shows that Africanimmigrants in the U.S. represent a growing but “largely untapped”market segment. Most of these immigrants have their ownchecking and savings accounts, and most have cell phones ande-mail. The results were collected from focus groups inMinneapolis, New York and Los Angeles, and surveys of Africanimmigrants in Minnesota, California, New York and Washington,D.C.