Hanwha Group Updates First-half 2026

Hanwha Life’s first-half 2026 (H1 2026) results offer a concrete measure of a broader strategic shift underway among South Korean life insurers: as domestic premium growth moderates, the country’s carriers are deploying capital into Southeast Asian insurance markets, 

Indonesian banking, and US securities – and the financial returns are beginning to register. The Seoul-based insurer reported on August 13 that its key overseas subsidiaries generated a combined net profit of KRW 103 billion (approximately US$72.7 million) in the first half of 2026, equivalent to roughly 87% of their total net profit for the entirety of 2025. Those subsidiaries – spanning Vietnam, Indonesia, and the US – accounted for approximately 11% of Hanwha Life's consolidated net profit of KRW 904.5 billion (approximately US$638.4 million) for the period.

Vietnam gains arrive at a market inflection point
Hanwha Life Vietnam posted a net profit of KRW 32 billion (approximately US$22.6 million) in H1 2026, up 23% year-on-year, driven by improved claims management, lower operating expenses, and higher investment income from deposits placed amid rising local interest rates. The subsidiary also entered new bancassurance partnerships and launched additional sales operations ahead of H2. That performance comes against a market that has been deeply disruptive for foreign-owned insurers. Vietnam’s life insurance sector entered a prolonged correction following a bancassurance mis-selling crisis that emerged in late 2022, after bancassurance had grown at a 53% compound annual growth rate between 2017 and 2022. 

The market decline was driven primarily by heightened regulatory and public scrutiny of bancassurance sales practices, particularly the bundling of insurance products with bank lending, while equity-market volatility and high-profile customer complaints on social media amplified reputational damage. The resulting trust shock saw new-business volumes fall sharply and first-year lapse rates exceed 70% for some insurers. By 2025, both agency and bancassurance volumes had fallen back to 2017 levels.

Analyst estimated 0.9% annual growth for Vietnam’s life insurance market in 2025 and projected acceleration to 3.8% in 2026, as distribution channels adapt and banks re-engage on improved terms. The recovery is unfolding on structurally altered terms, however. One of the most significant post-crisis shifts has been Vietnamese banks moving from distributors toward becoming insurance owners and competitors.

Techcom Life, launched in 2025, was the first greenfield domestic life insurer established outside the traditional joint-venture model since 1996. Backed by Techcombank and Vingroup, the insurer has adopted a focused bancassurance model. The shift creates a potential competitive challenge for international insurers that have historically relied on exclusive bancassurance arrangements, as banks increasingly have the option of controlling their own insurance manufacturing and distribution.

Vietnam’s life insurance market remains highly competitive as new-business rankings shift. Bao Viet Life held an 18.3% share of new-business premium revenue in the first two months of 2026, followed by Generali at 11.5%, while Dai-ichi Life and AIA each held around 11% to 12%. Techcom Life, launched in 2025, reached 8.3% by February, entering the top five and surpassing several established foreign insurers. By total life insurance premium revenue, however, Bao Viet Life remained the leader at 23.5%, followed by Manulife at 17.4%, Dai-ichi at 11.8%, AIA at 11.6%, and Prudential at 11.4%.

Non-insurance subsidiaries provide the larger earnings contribution
The more structurally significant element of Hanwha Life’s H1 results is the contribution from its non-insurance entities. US-based Velocity Clearing, LLC and Indonesia’s Nobu Bank together recorded a combined net profit of KRW 58 billion (approximately US$40.9 million) – exceeding the Vietnam insurance unit’s individual contribution. 

Velocity Clearing is a self-clearing broker-dealer registered with the SEC and FINRA, with registrations and memberships across major US exchanges and self-regulatory organizations, including the New York Stock Exchange, Cboe Exchange, Nasdaq BX, and Nasdaq PHLX. Its services include execution, clearing and custody, stock-locate services, securities lending, and financing. Hanwha Life acquired a 75% stake in the firm in a transaction completed July 30, 2025. As of the end of 2024, Velocity held approximately US$1.2 billion in total assets, while revenue had grown at a 25% CAGR from 2022 to 2024. The firm recorded KRW 29 billion in net profit in H1 2026.

On the banking side, Hanwha Life secured a 40% controlling stake in Indonesia’s Nobu Bank from Lippo Group in June 2025, becoming the first Korean insurer to enter the overseas banking sector. As of 2024, Nobu Bank held total assets of approximately US$2.2 billion, while net profit more than doubled from KRW 12 billion in 2023 to KRW 27.9 billion in 2024. Nobu Bank’s H1 2026 net profit reached KRW 29 billion, already exceeding its full-year 2024 result, with recent growth supported by mortgage lending and its position in Indonesia’s QR-payment market.

A pattern across the Korean insurance sector
Hanwha Life’s model reflects a sector-wide response to domestic constraints. South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) reported that the overseas operations of 12 Korean insurers generated a combined net profit of US$197 million in 2025, up 23.8% year-on-year across 46 entities in 11 markets. Profit from overseas insurance businesses, however, fell by US$22.1 million year-on-year to US$128.6 million – with the gap filled by Hanwha Life’s newly consolidated banking and securities businesses.

For brokers and independent distributors operating in Vietnam and Indonesia, the strategic shift is significant. Korean insurers are expanding beyond underwriting into banking, securities, and distribution, giving them greater control over customer access and bancassurance channels. The ASEAN bancassurance market was valued at US$35.82 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach US$69.71 billion by 2031, representing an 11.08% compound annual growth rate, according to Mordor Intelligence. As insurers pursue that growth through exclusive or preferential bank partnerships, brokers could face greater competition for customers and distribution access, particularly where banks give partner insurers preferential access to their customer bases.

Group-level results
On a consolidated basis, Hanwha Life reported a 96% year-on-year increase in net profit to KRW 904.5 billion (approximately US$638.4 million) for H1 2026, with standalone net profit rising 183.9% to KRW 510.2 billion (approximately US$360.1 million). New business contractual service margin reached KRW 1.3001 trillion (approximately US$917.6 million), which the company said was its highest first-half figure since adopting IFRS 17, with new business profitability rising 11-fold. 

Kyobo Acquires AXA General

Kyobo Life Insurance is pursuing the acquisition of AXA General Insurance, a subsidiary of France's AXA Group, in a move to complete the final puzzle piece of its transition into a financial holding company. The insurer has sent out requests for proposals to global investment banks and accounting firms to select an acquisition advisor, with due diligence expected to begin as early as the end of this month. 

The transaction is being structured as a private deal directly with AXA Group, and AXA General Insurance's enterprise value is estimated at ₩200 billion to ₩300 billion (approximately $141.8 million to $212.7 million). AXA General Insurance was originally acquired by Kyobo Life in 2001 and sold to AXA in 2007 — meaning this deal would bring the company back into the fold after roughly two decades. 

Kyobo Life has been moving aggressively this year, having already acquired SBI Savings Bank and Kyobo AXA Asset Management in succession, rapidly building a comprehensive financial portfolio spanning life insurance, non-life insurance, securities, asset management, and savings banking. The company is also simultaneously advancing plans to relaunch its initial public offering.

Japan Rising Interest Rate

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, one of Japan's top five insurers, is considering the implications of an industry-wide increase in policy cancellations, as policyholders are being encouraged by higher interest rates to consider alternative financial products.

Japan’s life insurers are facing a surge in policy cancellations as rising interest rates make alternative investments more attractive. During the first five months of 2026, insurers paid out more than JPY6tn ($37.7bn) to customers who terminated their policies, roughly 40% more than in the same period a year earlier. The figure is the highest recorded in data from the Life Insurance Association of Japan dating back to 2020.

The trend is particularly significant in Japan, where life insurance products often combine death protection with savings or investment features. As the Bank of Japan has moved away from its long-standing negative interest rate policy and raised rates to 1%, investors have increasingly sought opportunities offering higher returns.

The changing investment environment is putting pressure on insurers, with some policyholders choosing to surrender existing policies and redirect their money towards higher-yielding assets.

Indonesia Life Insurance 1st Quarter 2026

Indonesia's life insurance industry recorded booked new business premiums of $1.5b (Rp27.90t) in January to March 2026 (Q1 2026), up 5.0% from a year earlier.

Indonesian Life Insurance Association, or AAJI, said 56 life insurers insured 118.28 million people during Q1 2026, which rose 20.9% year-on-year.

AAJI said the figures showed the industry continued to provide financial protection to the public despite economic pressures. The industry’s total income reached $2.6b (Rp47.63t) in Q1 2026. During the same period, insurers paid $2.1b (Rp38.73t) in claims and benefits, up 1.5% year on year.

Total unweighted premium income was relatively stable at $2.6b (Rp47.27t). Traditional life insurance remained the largest product contributor, generating $1.7b (Rp30.10t) in premiums in Q1 2026. AAJI said this showed that basic protection remained a key part of household financial planning.

By distribution channel, bancassurance remained the largest contributor, with $1.0b (Rp18.54t) in premium income.

Alternative distribution channels generated $0.8b (Rp14.44t), whilst the agency channel grew 1.2% to $0.8b (Rp14.29t) during Q1 2026.

Children Insurance Fraud

A court in the central city of Danang on Thursday sentenced a 45-year-old woman to life imprisonment for murdering her five-year-old son and fraudulently claiming more than VND4.1 billion (around US$150,000) in life insurance payouts after staging the death as an accidental drowning.

The Danang People's Court found To Thi Ty Na, from Thang Binh Commune, guilty of murder and insurance business fraud. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and six years in prison for insurance fraud, which combined into a life sentence under Vietnamese law.

According to the indictment, police initially received a report on January 3, 2023, that Na's son, identified as N.V.H., born in 2017, had been found dead in a bathroom bucket at the family's home the previous night.

However, the boy's paternal aunt, Nguyen Thi Bich Tam, reported her suspicions to authorities on the same day.

Tam told investigators she had reviewed the home's security camera footage and discovered that Na had deliberately redirected one of the cameras before the incident. Tam also recalled that another of Na's children had died in similar circumstances in 2021 after drowning in a bucket in the bathroom, following which Na received more than VND2 billion in insurance compensation.

The similarities between the two deaths prompted police to launch a full investigation. Prosecutors said there was no evidence that the child could have accidentally drowned in the position in which he was discovered.

Although the boy had no injuries before the incident, the post-mortem examination found multiple bruises and marks on his forehead, groin and leg, indicating he had struggled against external force before his death.

Court documents showed that Na had previously served a 40-month prison sentence for theft before returning home, marrying and raising four children. After her husband died in 2020, she struggled financially. Prosecutors said she had sold the family home for VND1.2 billion to cover living expenses and later exhausted the proceeds.

Na subsequently purchased seven life insurance policies covering her four children, paying annual premiums exceeding VND100 million ($3,800). She named herself as the beneficiary of all the policies. Her youngest son alone was covered by two separate life insurance contracts with different insurers.

Following his death, Na falsely declared that he had accidentally drowned, enabling her to claim insurance benefits. Based on the fraudulent documentation, the two insurance companies paid her more than VND4.1 billion, all of which prosecutors said was spent on personal expenses.

During the trial, Tam reiterated that the altered camera angle had first raised her suspicions, while the child's teacher testified that the boy had been healthy and showed no signs of injury before his death. In her final statement before the court, Na continued to deny the charges and asked the judges to allow her to return to her family.

After reviewing the evidence and arguments presented during the trial, the court ruled that prosecutors had proved beyond doubt that Na murdered her son in order to obtain insurance money and handed the woman a life sentence.

China Subject Offshore Insurance Income To Domestic

China's State Taxation Administration said offshore insurance income was subject to domestic tax, local news outlet the Paper reported, citing an official on Friday.

China will treat all residents' overseas income equally, regardless of whether it is overseas insurance income or other investment income, all income must be declared and taxed according to law.

The clarification came after reports emerged that local tax authorities were stepping up cross-border tax compliance efforts and reviewing tax residents' unreported foreign income.

Beijing and Hangzhou authorities have started to apply personal income tax rates of 20% on returns from Hong Kong insurance policies. Mainland Chinese authorities have escalated scrutiny of offshore investments in recent months, which analysts say could weigh on money flows to Hong Kong.

Taxing offshore-sourced income derived by Chinese tax residents, including returns on overseas insurance policies, is a common international practice and has been consistently upheld since the implementation of China's Personal Income Tax Law, the official said.

South Korea Life Insurers Faces Declining Sales

South Korean life insurers are facing declining sales, as demand for new policies fell amidst a shrinking population and an aging society. According to statistics from the Korea Life Insurance Association (KLIA), the number of new life insurance contracts in the first half of 2026 totalled 4,112,902, down 12.9% from the first half of last year. New contract premiums also fell 6.8% over the same period to KRW744.37bn ($519m).

The KLIA statistics reveal that the overall decline in new contracts was largely driven by weak sales of protection-type insurance products. In the first half 2026, new protection-type insurance contracts totalled 3,869,319, down 13.4% from a year earlier, far exceeding the decline in savings-type insurance (-3.6%). New contract premiums also fell 5.9% to KRW632.07bn.

On the other hand, the base for new subscriptions shrank due to population decline from low birthrates and aging, while new demand itself fell as insurance subscription rates had already reached high levels.

Protection-type insurance sales also contracted on a first-year premium basis. From January to April 2026, first-year premiums for individual protection-type insurance totalled KRW489.2bn, down 22.0% from KRW627.2bn a year earlier. First-year premiums for whole life insurance, the flagship product, fell 11.3% from KRW264.5bn won to KRW234.6bn, while disease insurance fell 20.4% from KRW97.8bn won to KRW77.9bn.

The slump in the core business has also affected earnings. In the first half of 2026, net profit in the insurance divisions of the five major financial holding companies totalled KRW1.118 tr, shrinking 21.0% from a year earlier.