represents a foothold in Korea’s life insurance market, concedes UK
bancassurer HSBC. However, it’s a foothold HSBC and its joint
venture (JV) partner, Korean banking and financial services company
Hana Financial Group (HFG), aim to build on to grow HHL into one of
Korea’s top-ten players in the country’s life insurance industry
within five years.
The JV was formed in November 2007 when HSBC acquired a 50
percent less one share stake in Hana Life Insurance for $58.4
million. A small player in Korea’s market, HHL reported gross
written premiums of KRW882.5 billion ($905 million) in 2007 and had
126,000 policyholders at year end. Korea’s annual life insurance
premium income is about $70 billion.
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HHL’s key distribution focus is on the bancassurance channel via
HFG’s Hana Bank, which operates Korea’s third largest branch
network, HSBC’s Korean branches and a growing number of third-party
alliances. Elaborating on this strategy, David Fried, CEO and
chairman of HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific), said: “Banking is no
longer about just lending and savings – investment, wealth
management, protection and pensions are all part of the equation of
holistic financial planning.
“Bancassurance is playing a greater role in banking services and it
is an area that is seeing some of the highest growth rates among
insurance distribution channels globally. With HSBC’s expertise in
bancassurance and Hana Financial Group’s strong local market
presence, we aim to develop Hana HSBC Life Insurance into a key
player in the bancassurance realm.”
