Chairman Kim Seung-youn of Hanwha Group.

Hanwha Life Insurance Corp. has been pushing its expansion overseas since it entered Vietnam in 2009, then setting up branches in other Asian countries like China and Indonesia.

The life insurance firm set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Vietnam, the first local subsidiary by a Korean life insurance company overseas. It has been considered a great success.

A main factor for its success has been the localization of its operations. Only two of its 230 officers and staff are not local residents including its CEO, the officer in charge of finance and the officer in charge of marketing.

Other factors include diverse life insurance products which are tailor-made for what local customers want out of their life insurance policies; top-rate service; and the Insurance Management Information System that was set up with IT supplied by the head office in Seoul.

A such, the local subsidiary saw its insurance policy sales rising to 369.4 billion dong from just 41 billion dong in 2009, the initial year of its operation. During the period, the number of branches expanded to 54 around Vietnam from just five in 2009, while the number of sales staff rose to 12,459 from just 450.

 The company also established its operations in China, despite fierce competition among the world renowned life insurance firms trying to expand their market share. Since kicking off its operation in 2012 through its local subsidiary, Sino-Korea Life Insurance.

Sino-Korea Life Insurance, a 50:50 joint venture between Hanwha Life Insurance and Zhejiang International Business Group, posted 89.3 million yuan (16.1 billion won or $14.6 million as of December 2013) in initial premiums one year after beginning operations. As a result, the joint venture became the fourth-largest foreign life insurance firm in Zhejiang Sheng, beating nine rival companies, with a 9.1 percent market share.

The success of Sino-Korea Life Insurance is attributable to its multi-channel strategy and successful localization based on its 10-year analysis of the Chinese market. When the joint venture opened for business, it pursed a strategy that targets individual planners, banks, and group channels.

Currently, 200 insurance brokers who were selected when the company launched the business in the country are working in China. The firm also entered into bancassurance with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and the Agricultural Bank of China. Also, it is selling endowment insurance and pension insurance plans that are preferred by local customers through 180 branches nationwide.

On top of that, Sino-Korea Life Insurance is making efforts to approach local customers with a friendly image by fulfilling corporate social responsibility. For example, it provided free premium subscriptions to exemplary police officers in Zhejiang Sheng, held blood drives in the quake-hit city of Yaan, and launched environmental campaigns.

The company is planning to move forward with a growth strategy based on its success, as shown by the opening of three branches in Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Jinhua only one year after its penetration into the country.

Starting in Taizhou, the joint venture is planning to expand its business network in major cities in Zhejiang Sheng this year. From next year, it plans to expand its reach to Shanghai and Jiangsu Sheng in order to build a nationwide business network.

Based on this successful overseas expansion, Hanwha Life Insurance is considering whether or not to enter other Asian countries like Hong Kong, Malaysia, or Singapore.

The Chinese life insurance market is the fifth-largest market in the world, in which US$141.2 billion of premium income was reported in 2012. The market is growing roughly 15 percent each year due to a rise in individual income propelled by the nation's economic growth and the rapidly-increasing aged population. It is expected to become the largest life insurance market by 2030.

Staff of the Sino-Korea Life Insurance Co., a local subsidiary of Hanwha Life Insurance Co. in Zhejiang Province, China, set up in 2012 are gathered for a photo session on Nov. 23, 2013, to celebrate the initial year anniversary of the company.(Photos:Hanwha Life)