Could you live on $2 a day? The thought is daunting, to say the least. Yet, for more than 2.7 billion people around the world, this is not a question, it’s a reality. And how they do it will surprise you.

On June 8th and 9th, 2010, MicroSave and FAI are sponsoring a virtual conference – Reimagining Microfinance around the World: Implementing Lessons from Portfolios of the Poor – to share findings from more than of a year of in-depth research in Bangladesh, India and South Africa.

And the title “Reimagining Microfinance” is key here, because what we found with Portfolios of the Poor was indeed surprising. It turns out that poor households manage highly sophisticated financial lives, but not necessarily in the ways we thought they did. This is big news for those in the business of providing financial services to the poor, and should inform how those products and services are designed.

The virtual conference will be moderated by co-authors Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford and Orlanda Ruthven, and MicroSave’s Graham Wright. Join us to discuss how to turn lessons from this research into practical solutions for improving the lives of the poor.