Prudential Life Korea headquarters in Seoul

By Kang Seung-woo

Companies in almost every field, including the insurance industry, seek to become the largest, most profitable entities, believing that size and earnings really matter.

But Prudential Life Korea does not buy into that idea, as it looks to become the most trusted insurance company, placing honesty and ethics above everything else in terms of management.

“Prudential Korea is trusted by its customers because the life planners, who are highly qualified professionals, stay with their clients at all times and provide the best service to them,” a Prudential official said.

Since its foundation in 1989, the Korean arm of the U.S.-based global company has gained recognition as a trailblazer with the introduction of new insurance policies.

Prudential introduced its life planner system to the local life insurance sector in 1991 and the whole life insurance product was also introduced by the firm, distinguishing itself from rival companies.

The firm recruited people with bachelor’s degrees as life planners to sell its products. Prudential only sells its policies through planners unlike its competitors who take advantage of bancassurance and TV home shopping.

“Each customer receives a one-on-one consultation from a life planner, who provides products based on the customer’s personal needs. The insurance policies are always customized to suit the specific needs and lifestyles of each individual,” the official said.

Other innovations include living needs, where part of the benefits are paid in advance to help policyholders to prepare for death; funeral needs, where partial benefits can be paid in preparation for funeral costs; and a silver nursing care rider, which pays a nursing annuity in case of chronic disease.

Thanks to its efforts, Prudential has stood atop the leaderboard in many areas including solvency margin ratio, retention rate, ratio of misleading sales and ratio of certified insurance consultants.

As Korea is now rapidly becoming an ultra-aging society and customers’ needs are shifting to post-retirement and health, Prudential plans to find a new growth engine in those categories on the strength of its wealth of know-how gained from its whole life insurance product en route to becoming an all-round insurance company.

In accordance with the plan, it came up with two policies regarding health care and post-retirement income and protection respectively, in July and September.