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| KB Insurance CEO Yang Jong-hee |
Some heads of insurance subsidiaries of Korea's leading financial groups are not likely to have their term extended, due to weaker-than-expected performances including sales declines and investment losses.
Chances are slim that KB Insurance CEO Yang Jong-hee will manage to clinch another term. His second two-year term is set to end in December.
The "right-hand man" of KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, Yang caused a lot of surprise when he was appointed as the group vice president, a rare promotion that skipped over others many years his senior in a financial group defined by its conservative hierarchy.
The promotion came in recognition of a successful merger and acquisition of LIG Insurance, a two-year project of the then group core strategist who maintained strong performance track records since he worked at KB Kookmin Bank.
The largest factor clouding his extension is the financial group's performance in 2019. The non-life insurer reported 166.2 billion won ($143.5 million) in net profit in the first half of this year, an 11.6 percent drop from the year before.
Its third quarter figure was 67.7 billion won, down 25.5 percent from the previous quarter. The notable drop in earnings is highlighted as it was the only group subsidiary with a decline in net profit in the July-September period.
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| KB Life Insurance Huh Jung-soo |
The accounting specialist is known to have broad expertise, gained while working at the group as well as its bank and non-life insurance subsidiaries.
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| NongHyup Property and Casualty Insurance CEO Oh Byoung-kwan |
The non-life insurer's 5.9 billion net profit in the first six months recorded a 71.4 percent drop from the year before.
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| NongHyup Life Insurance CEO Hong Jae-eun |
The life insurer recorded 24.7 billion won in the January-September period, a 7.8 percent decline from the year before.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea's 24 life insurers reported around a combined 2.1 trillion won in net profit in the first six months, over a 32 percent drop from about 3.1 trillion won the previous year.
Non-life insurers in the same period saw their net profit drop to 1.4 trillion won, down 29.5 percent from the year before.
