Mirae Asset Life Insurance

A life insurance company affiliated with Mirae Asset Group that operates an asset management–oriented insurance model centered on variable insurance and pensions, and is listed on the KOSPI

Mirae Asset Life Insurance

Overview

Mirae Asset Life Insurance (미래에셋생명) is a South Korean life insurance company belonging to Mirae Asset Financial Group. Tracing its origins to Shindongah Life Insurance, established in the early 1990s, it was acquired by Mirae Asset Group in the mid-2000s and subsequently built an "asset management–oriented insurance" model centered on variable insurance and pension and retirement pension products. Since its listing on the KOSPI in 2010, it has been known among mid-sized life insurers for a strategy that foregrounds asset management capabilities and group synergies.

Key Details

History and Governance

Shindongah Life Insurance launched as an insurer affiliated with the Shindongah Group, but was put up for sale amid the group's dissolution process; in 2005 a Mirae Asset Group consortium acquired it, and in 2006 the company changed its name to Mirae Asset Life Insurance. In December 2010 it was listed on the KOSPI and trades under ticker code 085620. Because Mirae Asset Group operates without a holding company, with affiliates linked through cross-shareholdings, its governance structure has group affiliate companies participating as major shareholders, and it is closely connected to the group's asset management, securities, and capital networks.

Business Structure and Product Portfolio

Mirae Asset Life Insurance's business is divided into three main pillars. First, variable insurance. This is a product group—including variable annuity, variable savings, and variable whole life insurance—that invests policyholder premiums in funds and reflects investment performance; product design leveraging the group's asset management infrastructure is regarded as a strength. Second, the pension and retirement pension business. It focuses on securing stable fee income based on individual pension and retirement pension (DC, DB, IRP) reserves. Third, protection products. It simultaneously pursues a strategy of reducing the volatility of its earnings structure by expanding the share of risk-protection products such as whole life, health, and term insurance.

Sales Channels

Alongside a face-to-face channel centered on its exclusive agent organization, it operates bancassurance partnerships, independent general agencies (GA), and online and direct channels. A distinctive feature is its cross-selling model, which connects asset management customers to insurance customers through partnerships with group securities firms and banks; recently it has been pursuing channel efficiency by introducing non-face-to-face consultation and digital application systems.

Financial and Accounting Environment

With the full implementation of the new international insurance accounting standard (IFRS17) and the new solvency regime (K-ICS) starting in 2023, the formulas for performance and soundness metrics across the life insurance industry changed significantly. For Mirae Asset Life Insurance as well, securing contractual service margin (CSM) and managing the solvency ratio have become core management indicators, and given its business characteristics with a high share of variable insurance, financial market volatility has a relatively large impact on investment gains and losses and on fee income.

Recent Trends

The key themes for the life insurance industry in 2024–2025 are the settling-in of IFRS17, strengthened capital regulation, slowing growth due to low birth rates and population aging, and widening interest rate volatility. Mirae Asset Life Insurance is pursuing the following as its main tasks: (1) reorganizing its product lineup to match a recovery in the variable insurance market; (2) strengthening its recurring revenue base by expanding retirement pension and IRP reserves; (3) expanding the protection segment, including health insurance and senior care–linked products; and (4) improving cost efficiency by introducing digital channels and AI-based consultation and underwriting. In addition, amid industry-wide discussions on capital expansion and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and a trend toward stronger dividend and shareholder return policies, it faces demands for a differentiation strategy as a mid-sized insurer, and its "insurance + asset management" convergence model, combining with the group's asset management capabilities, is evaluated as a mid- to long-term growth engine.