Authorities “I think the insurance company paid properly”
4 trillion net profit of 5 major non-life insurers
Samsung, DB, etc. 30~60% of annual salary paid
Attention is focusing on whether the aftermath of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s intense criticism of the ‘bank money feast’ will spread to the non-life insurance industry.
A high-ranking official from the financial authorities said on the 16th, “We are also looking at whether insurance companies (not just banks) have properly paid incentives.”
Although it has received relatively less attention over the 1 trillion won bank performance bonus, non-life insurance companies (non-life insurers) have paid or are planning to pay significant performance bonuses. On the 31st of last month, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance paid 47% of the annual salary, the largest ever, and DB Insurance paid 41% of the annual salary as incentives. KB Insurance set 550% of the monthly bonus as performance bonus. Hyundai M&F will pay around 30% of annual salary, and Meritz Fire & Marine will pay 50-60% of annual salary.
The reason why the five major non-life insurers can distribute such incentives is that they made a record-high net profit of 4 trillion won last year. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s net income increased by 14.1% to KRW 1,283.7 billion, DB Insurance KRW 997 billion (14.2% increase), KB Insurance KRW 557.7 billion (84.8% increase), Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance KRW 574.6 billion (32.8% increase), Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance 8548 Each recorded a net profit of 100 million won (up 29.4%).
However, the views on this are different. This is because the company made a huge profit after raising the actual loss insurance premium due to the deteriorating loss ratio. Excluding the freezes in 2018 and 2019, real-life insurance has risen continuously in recent years. Following an average rise of 20.9% in 2017, it jumped 6-7% in 2020 and 10-12% in 2021. It rose 14.2% last year and 8.9% at the beginning of this year. On the other hand, auto insurance, whose loss ratio improved significantly, fell slightly to an average of 2%.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the net profit of 31 non-life insurers through the third quarter of last year was 4.8175 trillion won, up 22.3% from 3.933 trillion won in the same period of the previous year.
Correspondent Shin Kang
