October 25, 2024

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Hanwha Life Chief Global Officer and President Kim Dong-won (Hanwha Life)

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon’s second son Kim Dong-won, president and chief global officer at Hanwha Life, is eyeing a bigger presence within his father’s business empire as he plays a key role in leading the global expansion of the group’s financial business.

Hanwha’s succession scheme is taking shape, with the management control being transferred to the chairman’s three sons. The eldest Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan is to cover the group’s flagship defense and energy businesses, while the youngest son Hanwha Galleria Vice President Kim Dong-seon is to take over retail and leisure businesses.

The second son Dong-won is to take charge of the group’s financial business through Hanwha Life, the de facto controlling unit of the group's six financial affiliates: Hanwha Life, Hanwha General Insurance, Hanwha Asset Management, Hanwha Investment & Securities, Hanwha Life Financial Service and Carrot General Insurance. Hanwha Life is one of the top three life insurance carriers here, along with Kyobo Life and Samsung Life.

Born in 1985, Dong-won majored in East Asian Studies at Yale University. In 2014, he joined Hanwha to work at a construction materials unit. Since relocating to Hanwha Life in 2015, he has served in diverse positions at the insurer.

He took office as chief digital officer in 2019 and, recognizing the changing dynamics of the insurance industry, pushed to bring the insurer’s business online. He led major fintech investments, including those in crypto exchange operator Dunamu and Southeast Asian mobile tech giant Grab.

He has had more presence in recent years, especially after being promoted to chief global officer and president last year. More recently, he led the insurer’s bold investments in Indonesian companies such as Nobu Bank and its affiliate Lippo General Insurance. Both entities were under the control of Indonesia's influential conglomerate Lippo Group.

The Indonesian expansion was considered crucial for the insurer to level up its business in Indonesia as a total financial service provider from insurance to asset management and securities. By establishing Indonesia as its regional base, Hanwha Life aims to widen its reach throughout Southeast Asia.

Dong-won and Lippo Group CEO John Riady have maintained friendly ties for years. Sources say their conversation at the Davos Forum in January became the cornerstone of the latest deals.

“When members of the founding family lead overseas expansion, the push can gain more momentum. They can earn the trust of foreign partners as they can play a role in speeding up the overall decision-making by using their extensive human network,” said Oh Il-sun, director of Korea CXO Institute.

“With limits in the domestic market, many of the third-generation or younger chaebol scions are focusing on expanding their presence in overseas businesses.”

Under his leadership, Hanwha Life's Vietnamese subsidiary logged a cumulative profit last year for the first time since it was launched 15 years ago. It was the first overseas unit of a local insurer to post a cumulative profit.

Hanwha Life’s overseas push also partly comes as local insurers face limits in Korea, a country with a chronically low birth rate and an aging population.

“Overseas expansion is a critical agenda for insurers here, as the local market is fast saturated,” Lee Suk-ho, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Finance said. "Insurers can expand their business reach in foreign countries by joining hands with foreign asset managers and banks.”

Looking forward, the Hanwha heir is also tasked with boosting the profitability of other financial affiliates amid the huge reliance on insurance units. Hanwha’s six financial affiliates posted a consolidated net profit of around 1 trillion won ($7.2 million) of which earnings from Hanwha Life and Hanwha General Insurance took up nearly 95 percent.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)