South Korean Insurers’ Global Profit Surges, Driven by Non-Insurance Acquisitions as Core Operations Weaken
South Korean insurers experienced a nearly 24 percent surge in their overseas profit last year, yet this significant growth was predominantly fueled by Hanwha Life’s strategic expansion into banking and securities. This trend highlights a crucial industry shift: non-insurance ventures are increasingly reshaping international earnings, even as traditional core insurance operations face challenges and lose momentum.
According to a recent report by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), South Korean insurers’ international operations recorded a combined net profit of $197 million in 2025, marking a robust 23.8 percent increase year-over-year. This comprehensive figure encompasses 46 overseas units across 11 countries, managed by 12 insurers, comprising four life insurers and eight non-life insurers.
Despite the impressive headline growth, a deeper analysis reveals a weakening trend within the core insurance operations themselves. Profit from international insurance businesses saw a decline of $22.1 million from the previous year, settling at $128.6 million. This downturn was primarily attributed to the impact of natural disasters and subdued earnings performance from existing units. The FSS further noted that when excluding two newly established units and one divestment, existing overseas insurance operations recorded a net profit decline of $13.5 million.
This deficit in traditional insurance earnings was effectively offset and surpassed by the robust performance of Hanwha Life’s newly consolidated financial businesses. Profits from financial investment units soared by $33.1 million, reaching $34.2 million, while banking units contributed an additional $29.3 million in profit. These significant gains directly reflect Hanwha Life’s strategic international acquisitions, including the US securities firm Velocity Clearing and Indonesia’s Nobu Bank.
The impact of this strategic shift was particularly pronounced among life insurers, who witnessed their overseas net profit climb by an impressive 70.8 percent to $109.3 million. In stark contrast, non-life insurers experienced a profit decline of 7.8 percent, falling to $87.7 million. This downturn for non-life sectors was largely driven by a series of natural disasters across Southeast Asia, notably an earthquake in Myanmar and severe floods in Thailand.
These evolving figures clearly underscore a fundamental change in the international expansion strategy of South Korean insurers. Instead of exclusively focusing on conventional insurance products and services, leading industry players are now increasingly leveraging global acquisitions to construct more diversified and comprehensive financial platforms worldwide.
Reflecting the substantial growth driven by these newly integrated businesses, the total assets held by insurers’ overseas operations more than doubled, soaring from $7.34 billion to $16.24 billion by the end of 2025.
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