BNP Paribas Cardif Life appoints Oh as CEO
By Lee Min-hyung
Jonathan Oh, CEO at BNP Paribas Cardif Life Insurance
BNP Paribas Cardif Life Insurance has appointed Jonathan Oh as its first Korean CEO, in a rare and “questionable” move as foreign leaders have led the company for about two decades since its establishment here.
Industry watchers called the latest reshuffle of top management “unusual” given the French-headquartered subsidiary's personnel policy of placing a French official as leader of the Korean arm. Oh's predecessor, Benoit Meslet, left the group after ending a three-year presidency here and is known to have moved to another company.
“Given the surprise appointment of the Korean leader, BNP Paribas Group appears to have recently changed its localization strategy in Korea under judgment that non-Korean top management cannot handle workloads as efficiently as Koreans due to factors, such as language barriers and cultural differences,” an official from one non-Korean life insurance firm said on condition of anonymity.
“In a similar vein, BNP's decision to appoint Oh seems reasonable, as he can speak both Korean and English fluently and has decades-long experience in the insurance and financial industry here and abroad.”
A spokesperson at BNP Paribas said Oh's appointment was not made abruptly, and the group had carried out internal discussions on naming a Korean CEO for a considerable period of time.
Oh served as the company's chief business development officer for three years. Before joining the company in 2017, he worked as a country manager for Genworth Financial's Korean branch for 12 years from 2004.
The company said one of the key factors for the promotion was due to his contribution in diversifying the firm's business portfolio by successfully launching credit life insurance business here.
The credit life insurance refers to a type of insurance to pay off a borrower's loan in the event of his or her untimely death. The business is popular in Europe and some Asian countries, such as Japan and Taiwan, but this is not the case for the Korean market.
“Even if Korean customers are not familiar with the insurance, Oh has built a foundation to introduce the business here over the past three years,” a company official said. In general, a leader of the company serves for two to three years after taking office. The company said Oh's tenure has not been fixed at the moment.
Another official from the life insurance industry also said the appointment appears to be somewhat surprising in that this was the first time that a non-French official has led the company.
“But the company may have recently changed its internal policy in a way to tighten its network with Korean partners, and to do so, a Korean official is more suitable to carry out such local tasks,” the official said.