"No Field Experience Needed"... Insurance Companies Recruiting External Experts

Insurance Company HR Innovation Experiment
Breakthrough for Innovation in the Digital Age

Eunho Lee, Candidate for CEO of Lotte Insurance

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Insurance companies are increasingly appointing CEOs who have never worked in the insurance industry before. This is interpreted as an effort to inject external talent with fresh perspectives to find breakthroughs for innovation. It is seen as evidence that the traditional sales-focused insurance company model can no longer survive in the rapidly changing financial environment.

According to the industry on the 31st, Lotte Insurance recently selected Executive Director Lee Eun-ho, a former consultant, as the CEO candidate to succeed Lee Myung-jae, former CEO of Allianz Life.

Born in 1974 and in his 40s, candidate Lee graduated from Korea University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and holds an MBA from INSEAD. He began his career as a senior researcher at Samsung Electronics, then served as Managing Director at Oliver Wyman, Partner at AT Kearney, and Partner at PwC Consulting. His experience in the insurance industry is only two years, starting from his appointment as Managing Director at Lotte Insurance in December 2019.

Following the acquisition of JKL Partners, the CEO position at Lotte Insurance has been filled again by someone from outside the insurance sector, succeeding CEO Choi Won-jin, who was formerly Executive Director at JKL Partners.

However, despite his short insurance career, candidate Lee is regarded as the right person to lead innovation at Lotte Insurance. He participated as a consultant when JKL Partners acquired Lotte Insurance in 2019 and is recognized as a financial strategy expert who has provided strategic planning and advisory services to financial institutions while working as a consultant.

KB Life also recommended Lee Hwan-joo, Executive Vice President of Finance at KB Kookmin Bank, as the new CEO candidate at its board meeting on the 28th. Born in 1964, candidate Lee has worked in management planning and finance at the bank for 30 years but has no prior experience in the insurance sector. The previous CEO, Heo Jung-soo, also came from the management planning group at Kookmin Bank.

Hanwha Life has also recruited Vice President Ha Sang-woo, former CEO of AT Kearney and PwC Strategy&, and Executive Director Lee Han-saem, a former secretary at the Financial Services Commission, to its management strategy office responsible for establishing and executing mid- to long-term strategies for sustainable growth.

Hana Insurance appointed Nam Sang-woo, former CEO of the insurance agency (GA) Rich Planet, as head of its digital strategy division. Although Nam successfully launched the integrated insurance management application GoodRich at GA, he had no prior insurance experience. He is a marketing expert who previously worked in LG Internet Marketing Planning Team, SK Communications Brand Marketing Team, and served as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Cheongdam Learning.

An industry insider said, "Recent personnel trends show that understanding not only insurance but the entire financial sector is being evaluated as an important competency," adding, "This reflects the reality of the insurance industry facing new changes such as digital transformation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.