Americas
New Jersey
KoreanRe Insurance Services, Inc. (KRIS)
Korean Re established a subsidiary, KoreanRe Insurance Services, Inc. (KRIS), in the United States as part of its strategic initiative for global expansion. KRIS acquired a (re)insurance intermediary license from the Department of Banking & Insurance in the State of New Jersey in September 2021, with the aim of expanding its U.S. market presence by offering custom reinsurance solutions. Furthermore, KRIS’s licensure as both a property & casualty and a life and health insurance producer enables it to deliver a wide array of insurance solutions, showcasing its commitment to serving diverse client needs.
With an initial focus on the northeastern U.S., KRIS plans to leverage strategic opportunities to extend its reach across the country, aligning with Korean Re’s objective to grow its market share in a domain that constitutes 45% of global premium income. In addition, KRIS is venturing into primary insurance brokerage for U.S.-based Korean firms in order to enhance its service range and provide exceptional insurance consulting and brokerage services, reflecting Korean Re’s flexibility and client-centric approach.
Bogotá
Our representative office in Bogotá was set up in February 2020 after gaining approval from local authorities in Colombia, with which Korea had signed an FTA agreement in 2016. From this operating base in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia, Korean Re covers the entire Latin American region, including the Caribbean, where we have built business relationships with a number of (re)insurers for 27 years. The establishment of the office was as part of Korean Re’s ongoing initiative to increase its overseas business based on a diversified geographic portfolio.
As of January 1, 2024, amendments to Korean regulations have enabled the Bogotá representative office to directly perform underwriting on-site, allowing for more flexible and prompt underwriting decisions. This regulatory change has enhanced our accessibility and responsiveness to local clients and is expected to strengthen Korean Re’s presence in the Latin American market. Going forward, we will continuously provide improved services to our local clients, explore new business opportunities, and further diversify our overseas portfolio.
Asia
Singapore and Labuan
Our Singapore branch has provided stable capacity to the Southeast Asian market over the last 47 years. Across the market, Korean Re is recognized as a leading reinsurance company that provides reliable quotations based on a consistent underwriting policy. Furthermore, we remain actively responsive to our clients’ needs as we continuously support their risk management objectives. Along with developments in the market, their needs are changing and evolving, so we are striving to keep up with market needs and expand our business portfolio accordingly.
Building on our track record in Singapore, our Labuan branch has been serving the Malaysian market as a Tier 2 reinsurer since its opening in July 2017. As one of the market leaders in the region, we will stay committed to providing excellent client services across diverse lines of business. For the sake of administrative cost savings, the branch is operated without staff, as all necessary documentation and administrative activities are handled by our Singapore branch.
The key strategy of our Singapore and Labuan branches is to maintain a leading reinsurer position in the market while focusing on profitability-driven underwriting and building a well-diversified, stable portfolio across different regions and lines of business. In 2024, despite frequent natural catastrophes such as Typhoon Yagi, floods in Thailand and Malaysia, and the Vanuatu earthquake, we achieved solid results thanks to our robust and well-diversified portfolio. This strategic direction will continue in 2025. In response to increasing risks from climate change and softening market conditions, we plan to further strengthen our management of natural catastrophe volatility and reinforce profitability-driven underwriting.
Shanghai
Our Shanghai branch commenced operations in April 2020 and has become an important foothold to consolidate Korean Re’s sales base in the Chinese market.
The branch mainly targets highly profitable lines of business, such as property and liability non-proportional treaties, while maintaining a conservative position on relatively low-performing motor and proportional property treaties. In terms of loss experience, 2024 was a comparatively benign year, with Typhoon Yagi topping the list as the year’s largest catastrophe loss in China. There was a limited impact from the typhoon on our portfolio, and losses from heavy snow in the central area of the country remained manageable.
Our underwriting strategy for 2025 remains unchanged. In line with our underwriting focus on bottom-line performance, we will seek proportional treaties with stable results. As for our non-proportional treaty business, despite a softening market, we will continue to increase our portfolio with adequately priced, high-quality treaties based on technical pricing.
The Shanghai branch will focus on stabilizing local business operations by establishing a solid system infrastructure. Through our strategic approach in offering customized services to major clients based on their business results, cash flows, and solvency conditions, we aim to become a stronger player as well as a reliable business partner in the region. We will not only keep pace with China’s rapidly growing insurance market but also cope effectively with local regulatory changes, ensuring sustainable growth and long-term success.
Hong Kong
Worldwide Insurance Services, Ltd. (WIS)
Worldwide Insurance Services, Ltd. (WIS), which is based in Hong Kong, has been mainly running a reinsurance broking business since 1995 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Korean Re. As an in-house broker of Korean Re, WIS has access to Korean Re’s treaty and facultative businesses. This puts it in an excellent position to support (re)insurers with limited opportunities to tap into the Korean insurance market.
In addition to giving (re)insurers a chance to utilize Korean Re’s capacity, its strengths mainly lie in decades of accumulated know-how and expertise in reinsurance, not to mention the insightful knowledge necessary to provide practical value-added services. Moreover, as a licensed broker in both Hong Kong and Lloyd’s UK, WIS has a robust worldwide network to operate both Korean and non-Korean businesses. Based on those advantages, WIS works closely with Korean Re to offer the best solutions that meet the increasingly diverse and sophisticated needs of its clients worldwide.
On top of its main business of reinsurance broking, WIS has recently started to engage in the primary insurance brokerage business, mainly for Korean companies operating in Hong Kong. This new business operation has contributed to increasing the insureds’ benefits through outstanding insurance consulting and brokerage services. Starting with group medical insurance of Korean financial entities in Hong Kong, it plans to expand its business scope and service areas.
Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
Zurich
Korean Reinsurance Switzerland AG (KRSA)
Located in Zurich, Switzerland, Korean Reinsurance Switzerland AG (KRSA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Korean Re, regulated by FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. After five years of operations, KRSA has realigned its management structure to better support the company’s growth and future ambitions in Europe, ensuring a smooth leadership transition and strengthening key functions across the organization. To further enhance its operational capabilities, KRSA has bolstered core areas such as reserving, claims, and data analytics by bringing in experienced professionals. Additionally, the Swiss Solvency Test (SST) process has been insourced, increasing self-sufficiency and reinforcing the company’s resilience.
In 2024, KRSA successfully renewed a stable portfolio, benefiting from continued market hardening, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. The company’s client-centric approach resulted in securing full signings on nearly all major programs across key P&C and specialty lines, while maintaining underwriting discipline and a strong focus on profitability, despite increasing competition in the natural catastrophe reinsurance segment. KRSA also made progress in expanding primary insurance partnerships, particularly in the Engineering sector, while carefully growing its presence in specialty lines such as Cyber.
Although KRSA’s results in 2024 were impacted by unexpected loss creep from severe hailstorm events in Italy that occurred in 2023, the company closed the year with a technical combined ratio of 99.5% 1). This outcome underscores the resilience of the portfolio, which was supported by a profitable underwriting performance in 2024 and in line with budgeted loss expectations, despite further climate-related losses across Europe, including floods in Southern Germany and Central and Eastern Europe, and the strengthening of the company’s incurred but not reported (IBNR) reserves.
With these accomplishments and a strategic reduction in its reliance on the volatile Property business for 2025 and beyond, KRSA, together with its sole shareholder Korean Re, remains committed to the European market, continuing to provide comprehensive reinsurance solutions across all major classes and lines.
1) The figure refers to the combined ratio excluding administrative expenses under the Swiss Statutory Standard (IFRS 4).
London
Korean Re Underwriting Limited (KRUL)
Korean Re Underwriting Limited (KRUL) was established in 2015 as a subsidiary of Korean Re and has been providing its capital to select syndicates as a corporate member of Lloyd’s. Since its beginning in the 1680s, Lloyd’s has been a pioneer in insurance and has evolved into the world’s leading market for specialist insurance over 300-plus years. As a market that specializes in unusual risks, Lloyd’s has built a leadership position in supplying insurance capacity for specialty lines, including satellites, terrorism, cyber and other emerging risks.
KRUL shares the operating results of various syndicates by deploying its capacity to them. It also seeks strategic cooperation with major players in the market to monitor the latest trends in product development, pricing, and capacity throughout advanced markets. By doing so, KRUL supports Korean Re in its efforts to expand into overseas markets and strengthen its global network.
Dubai
Our DIFC branch in Dubai, which opened in January 2018, has achieved strong results by receiving a stable transfer of existing contracts from the head office and securing new business.
The branch serves a diverse region, covering the Middle East, Africa, Turkiye, Greece, Cyprus, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It aims to further strengthen its presence in existing markets, while actively expanding into untapped African markets to drive sustainable growth and diversify its portfolio.