Shinhan Life to focus on Vietnam, healthcare business after integration

Shinhan Life CEO Sung Dae-kyu speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Shinhan Life

By Lee Min-hyung

Shinhan Life will expand its foothold in Vietnam and continue to scale up investment in emerging growth areas ― such as healthcare ― as part of efforts to reduce its reliance on conventional insurance sales in the rapidly saturating domestic market, the company's CEO Sung Dae-kyu said Tuesday.

“We will focus on increasing our market share in the lucrative Vietnamese market for quantity-wise growth,” Sung told reporters during a press conference. “Shinhan Life will also keep expanding our healthcare-related businesses for qualitative growth.”

The vision was unveiled about two weeks before the official launch of the integrated insurer, formerly Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance. After concluding all legal procedures, the new insurer will start doing business as of July 1, becoming Korea's fourth-largest life insurer with total assets worth 71.5 trillion won ($63.96 billion). The calculation is based on data as of the end of 2020. The integrated entity's annual net profit reached 396.1 billion won during the same period, the second-largest figure in the life insurance industry.

Sung stood at the forefront in pushing for the insurer's expansion into the Southeast Asian market. In February this year, Shinhan Life Vietnam won the license to operate business from local authorities there. The company is expected to start operating its business in 2022.

Shinhan Financial Group is rapidly raising its financial profile in Vietnam, and Shinhan Life aims to generate synergy with the parent group's banking subsidiaries operating there. Shinhan Bank Vietnam is one of Shinhan's biggest overseas subsidiaries, generating stable revenues after achieving success with its localization strategy.

The chief of Shinhan Life also shared his vision to continue enhancing the firm's healthcare business with the focus on HowFIT, a digital healthcare service operated by the insurer.

“The insurance business has close connections with healthcare, so we will make concerted efforts to lead the next healthcare market by possibly launching a healthcare service-dedicated subsidiary,” Sung said.

He pledged to run the company under three core management strategies ― digitization, value and data.

“The three keywords will be embedded to all the decision-making processes of the company,” Sung said. “We will let go of any old-fashioned working style and the key pillars will lay the foundation of Shinhan Life's new management culture.”

To achieve successful integration of the two insurers, Shinhan Life also promised to engage in sincere communication with their union members and minimize workforce restructuring.