Krishnan Narasimhan is a seasoned inclusive finance practitioner with over three decades of domain experience in financial services covering insurance, mutual funds, equity and bonds, investment management, having served in responsible senior Managerial positions with financial institutions in India and other countries including as Country Head of a life insurance company in Fiji.
He is currently a Programme Manager with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and heads the newly launched Climate Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Programme, a joint UNCDF/UNDP/UNU-EHS initiative. Based in Suva, Fiji Krishnan is responsible for programming and project implementation in eight Pacific countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu) and supporting an evolving portfolio in other regions
Krishnan has led the UNCDF Pacific team in supporting the regional Central Banks for the development of the National Financial Inclusion strategies, presently such strategies are being implemented in Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Krishnan has developed several innovative digital financial service implementations in the Pacific covering mobile wallets, mobile banking, remittances etc.
Krishnan has pioneered the introduction of microinsurance products in the Pacific, first in 2011 as Head of the Life Insurance company and later in 2017 as the team leader for inclusive insurance for UNCDF. He has also led the development of micro pension solutions for the informal sector in the Pacific through his engagement in four countries.
Krishnan holds Post graduate qualifications in Human Resources and Business Management. He also has International Post Graduate Certifications in Microfinance, Climate Change and Renewable energy finance from the prestigious Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a Leadership certificate from the Wharton School of management. He has attended and presented at many global seminars, workshops and training programs on Micro insurance, Pensions, Risk management, Micro and SME Banking. He has also authored several focus and technical notes as well as contributed a chapter to the global white book titled “Saving a billion from old age poverty: Global lessons for Local action.