Woori-Aviva Life Insurance Co is the winner of the 2012 Korea Financial Grand Award in the life insurance sector, which is also known as the Financial Man of the Year Award. President Kim Hee-tae has often been heard uttering the Chinese phrase “ryong jon ban bo,” which means “you have to walk half a step ahead of others,” borrowing from Hangzhou Wahaha Co. Chairman Zong Qinghou, one of the richest businessmen in China heading the largest beverage company in China.

CEO Kim has been known for leading his company a half step ahead of its rivals in order to achieve its target under the catchphrase “management that can move its customers.” This year has been no exception. He pushed the company to achieve its business targets, upgrading its position a notch in terms of performance results.

In order to build a healthy corporate culture, he had all of the company’s officers and staff members submit affidavits promising to work for customer satisfaction to preclude all kinds of customer complaints and incomplete contracts. Each unit of the company including the management had to come up with its own tasks for the customer satisfaction management strategy of the company.

Kim has also been working to create a customer-centered business environment and custom-made services, strengthening the base for CRM to boost the company’s analytical ability and insight for its customers. This year, Kim also started the program for experts on life insurance to visit their customers to provide tailor-made services under the so-called, “Services Seeking Customers” program.

Under the program, customers don’t have to submit the necessary papers in connection with accidents they were involved in, as they can give papers to the experts who visited them and the experts will tell them what additional papers they need and where to get them so that they can get their insurance money.

Woori-Aviva Life has also been steadily pushing various social services to fulfill its social responsibility. The company signed a sisterhood tie-up with Tandong Village in Tongryang County, Chungju City, North Chungcheong Province in 2009 and every year the company has been lending its hand to the village residents by sending its employees to help them with their chores such as collecting apples, planting red pepper seeds, and harvesting farm produce as part of its social service. The company has also been providing support to the Seunga-won welfare facility in the village where disabled children are housed and the Samhung School where the children of North Korean refugees are being taken care of.

CEO Kim’s management policies to take care of the company’s customers are seen through various indicators that show the company’s performance results. The guarantee-type insurance, which is part of the company’s main line of business, has expanded to 21.2 percent of all of the company’s businesses as of the end of October from 12.8 percent at the end of 2011, showing that the target of 21.3 percent for this year would be achieved without a hitch.

The ratio of new life insurance contracts retained has increased to 81.9 percent this year, up from 60.4 percent in 2010, while financial consultants who have remained with the company shot up to 20.6 percent from 11.8 percent. The incomplete sales ratio came down to 2.96 percent from 4.24 percent.

Kim used to say that they can’t pass their rivals if they rest when their rivals do and walk when their rivals do. 

Kim is a 30-year veteran of the bank, joining Woori Bank soon after graduating from Choongang University with a law degree. He was promoted to vice president in 2007 following various roles heading a number of branches as manager.

For three years from 2008 he led the bank’s subsidiary in China as president, taking huge credit for the subsidiary’s excellent performance records of growth. He was named the Top High-level Talent in Business in the Choyang District in Beijing. He was then assigned to head Woori-Aviva Life Insurance in 2011 as president.