In the U.S. market, once considered the top overseas destination for Korean insurers, results now vary by company. While Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and KB Insurance have scaled back or exited, DB Insurance and Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance are expanding their foothold with localization strategies.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 20th, as of the end of last year, Korean insurers with a branch or subsidiary in the United States are DB Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, and KB Insurance. They operate a total of 10 entities in the United States, including subsidiaries and branches. That is up by just one from 2018, when there were nine, effectively marking little progress.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance entered the U.S. market in 1990 by establishing a New Jersey branch. It later expanded local insurance sales, but as losses piled up, it sharply reduced its business in 2017 by ceding insurance contracts to a reinsurer. It now focuses on corporate insurance for Samsung affiliates and Korean corporations through its New York and New Jersey entities.
KB Insurance has effectively wound down its U.S. business. It took its first step by opening a New York branch in 1990, but amid a surge in the loss ratio, its board decided in July 2022 to withdraw the U.S. subsidiary. It halted new sales in October that year and stopped renewals in December. Remaining policies were all transferred to a foreign reinsurer in September last year. With only the license surrender process left, local operations have been fully terminated.
DB Insurance is taking active steps to tap the U.S. market. Starting with a Guam branch in 1984, it now operates four branches including Hawaii, California, and New York, and runs its Americas business headquarters in California. It has built a local sales base around commercial package insurance, homeowners fire insurance, and commercial auto insurance. Last year, its U.S. direct premiums written topped 800 billion won.
DB Insurance last year acquired 100% equity in the U.S. specialty insurer Fortegra for about 2.3 trillion won. Fortegra has strengths in specialty insurance (non-fire, non-marine, non-auto lines within property and casualty) and surety insurance, and once the acquisition is completed, DB Insurance's overseas business share is expected to expand from the current 3–5% to 20–25%.
Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance is also steadily expanding its U.S. business. Building on its U.S. branch established in 1994, it strengthened corporate insurance for Korean corporations with New Jersey as a hub, and in 2012 entered the personal lines market by starting to sell homeowners package insurance in New York state. It later expanded its operating areas to New Jersey, California, and Hawaii, and in 2022 launched commercial auto insurance in California. Last year, its U.S. direct premiums written came to about 288.7 billion won.
An insurance industry official said, "The U.S. market is large, but strict regulation and intense competition make it hard for Korean insurers to gain a foothold," adding, "DB Insurance and Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance are cases of pursuing growth through, respectively, mergers and acquisitions and localization strategies."