Kyobo Life Insurance Co. on May 4 hosted a reception at Lotte Hotel in Seoul for heads of asset management firms including foreign asset management firms in Seoul such as Goldman Sachs, Templeton and KTB Asset Management totaling 22 at the invitation of Chairman Shin Chang-jae.

 The occasion took place as Chairman Shin wanted to thank them for the performance results of those asset management companies and jointly share a philosophy for asset management centered around its customers, Kyobo Life officials said.

 Shin told the CEOs of the asset management firms that the reimbursement insurance asset management is a marathon and we have to have a long-term strategy for generation of profits for the benefit of the customers and work for preventive risk management.

 Kyobo Life with 9 trillion won worth of reimbursement insurance  in such areas as securities-type, index-type and bond-type has been making profits in every area of its life insurance operation.

In the meantime, Kyobo Life Insurance has jumped into the race to take over ING Life’s Asia-Pacific entity, as it tried to take over a stake in SBI’s online non-life insurance firm, in a bid to expand its life insurance business.

Officials of Kyobo Life said Chairman Shin Chang-jae is resolute about taking over ING Life’s Asia-Pacific operation and the company is all out to make its move a success. The life insurance company said it will submit its RFP in the early part of April to join Samsung Life and KB Financial Group in a heated competition to take over ING Life.

ING Life’s Asia-Pacific operation is ranked the fourth in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan after AIA, Prudential, and Allianz and its operation extends to Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Thailand and Indonesia. In Korea, ING Life is the top foreign life insurer in terms of market share and the 4th among all life insurers including domestic life insurers with a 5 percent market share.

When Samsung Life takes over the ING Life operation, its market share will rise to 32 percent and Korea Life’s market share would jump to 19 percent to rank second in the industry. Kyobo Life’s moves to take over ING Life’s Asia-Pacific operation would not be related to the situation, which would force it out of the Big Three life insurers in Korea with its current market share coming to 13 percent.

 KB Financial’s move to jointly take over ING Life with Samsung Life also has made Kyobo Life’s intention strong to go after the foreign insurance firm.

 ING Life decided to sell its Asia-Pacific operation for around $6 billion in January with its presence in such key Asian countries as Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Kyobo Life is also interested in taking over a stake in online SBI non-life insurance, affiliated with Softbank Investment in Japan, with the company dispatching a 20-man investigation team to Japan to size up the online non-life insurer.

 Kyobo Life would be the first Korean life insurer to acquire a stake in a life insurer in Japan, an advanced country, showing that the life insurer has changed its growth strategy in terms of its large cash holdings 0accumulated over the past decade of its successful operation.

 Kyobo refuted the idea that it would not become a public firm this year, but it may have to change the position now that it may need more cash to accomplish its M&As.

Fifty-three-year-old Kyobo Life was able to overcome numerous challenges and grow into one of Korea’s best insurers thanks to its 5 million customers and stakeholders who have supported the company through the years. 

The last year was a very difficult one for the Korean economy due to the unfavorable economic conditions such as the financial crisis in Europe and concerns over a possible double-dip recession in the U.S., which in turn increased the level of volatility in the insurance market, chairman Shin said. 

Despite such difficulties, Kyobo Life was ranked the number one insurance company in “Korea’s 50 Most Admired Companies” by the Fortune Korea.company in “Korea’s 50 Most Admired Companies” by the Fortune Korea.