A view of the entrance of the head office building of Samsung Life Insurance Co. in Seoul. (Below) A view of the entrance of the building where the Baeviet Life Insurance Co. has offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (Photos: Samsung Life Insurance)

Samsung Life Insurance is seeking opportunities to enter Vietnam by diverting capital into Baoviet Life, the biggest insurance firm in SE Asia.

Reports said that Samsung’s insurance company is negotiating to buy Baoviet Life’s shares. “We can't comment on details at this point, but it is true the discussion is underway with Baoviet Life,” said a Samsung Life Insurance official. “There are hurdles to be addressed regarding some legal issues with the Vietnamese government.”

Baoviet Life is the biggest local life insurance company with a staff of nearly 200,000 and 75 branches across the country. The company is leading the Vietnamese insurance market with 18.9 per cent of the market share, followed by Prudential and AIA. It has been reported that Samsung Life is seeking to buy 20 percent of Baoviet Life’s shares.

The local insurer is fully owned by Bao Viet Holdings, in which the local government owns 72 per cent. The firm is listed on the Ho Chi Minh City bourse, with market capitalization of $2.65 billion.
The company reached 41 trillion Vietnamese dong ($1.78 billion) in revenue in 2018 and its total assets hit 100 trillion Vietnamese dong.

Samsung was the first insurance company in Korea to receive ISO 9001 and 9002 certification based on the quality and reliability of its services. Samsung Life was also the first company in Korea to establish an internet site for providing customers with information about its products and services and is a leader in the use of e-Business infrastructure to enhance customer service.

In addition, Samsung received the BS7799 certification, an international information security certificate awarded by the British Standards Institution.

Samsung Life is frequently listed among Fortune’s Global 500 and in 2010, was ranked by Fortune magazine as the 316th largest corporation in the world and the leading financial company in Korea.

Samsung says its ultimate goal is to rank among the world’s most prominent providers of financial services. At the same time, Samsung Life remains committed to sharing its success by continuing to support community services, the arts and cultural activities, sports and social welfare programs.

Samsung offers both individual and group life products and insures approximately one-third of the population of Korea through a network of approximately 44,045 sales agents and over 6,474 employees. Samsung is also the leading underwriter of group life insurance and severance benefits plans in Korea.

Samsung Life has strived to protect the lives and the wealth of people with its insurance services. Our efforts have been recognized by Korea’s most prestigious National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) as we ranked No. 1 in the life insurance category for 14 consecutive years. With our total assets reaching KRW 283 trillion as of December 2017, we have an unrivaled market leadership in Korea.

In 1957, Samsung Life Insurance was founded on the management principles of promoting a culture that treasures family values and making contributions to society and ultimately, the nation. For 60 years since its inception.“We are focused on laying the foundation for future growth based on the customer-oriented management approach, where we place our customers first in everything we do, said President Hyun Sung-chol in his statement on the company’s Internet homepage,” the company has stated.

“Also, we innovate continuously with a forward-looking perspective in order to identify and capitalize on growth opportunities in the 'new normal' era of low growth and low interest rates. Going beyond our success in the domestic market, we endeavor to grow into a global top-tier insurer.”