Exclusive
Kyobo 3rd-Generation Heir Shin Joong-hyun Resigns as Non-Executive Director of Fortress Innovation

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that Shin Joong-hyun (42), Head of the Digital Strategy Office at Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance and the second son of Kyobo Life Insurance Group Chairman Shin Chang-jae (72), has resigned from his position as a non-executive director at Fortress Innovation. Fortress Innovation was previously a subsidiary of Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance, but was transferred to a subsidiary of Kyobo DTS last May. Mr. Shin resigned during the process of changing the majority shareholder of Fortress Innovation.

Mr. Shin has been working at Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance since 2020. In 2022, Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance acquired Fortress Innovation, a financial simulation solution company. At the time, Kyobo Lifeplanet stated that it expected to secure a full team of digital experts and a foothold for promoting digital transformation. Mr. Shin also took office as a non-executive director of Fortress Innovation and was directly involved in its management.

However, Fortress Innovation failed to make any significant contribution to the performance of Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance. Last year, the company recorded 4 billion won in revenue and a net loss of 200 million won. Although Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance did not hold back on support, including investing 6 billion won in Fortress Innovation through a paid-in capital increase last year, there was no notable improvement in performance.

Ultimately, Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance sold its entire stake in Fortress Innovation to its affiliate, Kyobo DTS, this May. According to BizHankook's coverage, Mr. Shin resigned from his non-executive director position at Fortress Innovation during the period when the stake sale was underway. Mr. Shin’s original term was until March 2026. Despite participating in the board of directors of Fortress Innovation, Mr. Shin stepped down without leaving any clear performance or presence. Mr. Shin is currently focusing solely on the management of Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance.

A representative from Fortress Innovation explained, "As the majority shareholder changed to Kyobo DTS, the relevance to Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance disappeared, leading to (Mr. Shin's) resignation."

Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance has also been posting poor results recently. The company recorded net losses of 24.9 billion won in 2023 and 26.1 billion won in 2024, respectively. Poor performance continues, with a net loss of 7.9 billion won in the first half of this year. The poor performance of both Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance and Fortress Innovation is expected to affect the evaluation of Mr. Shin.

Chairman Shin Chang-jae has two sons: the eldest, Shin Joong-ha (44), an executive at Kyobo Life Insurance, and the second son, Mr. Shin Joong-hyun. Executive Shin Joong-ha is also active as a non-executive director of D-Planix, a data analysis subsidiary of Kyobo Life Insurance Group. D-Planix recorded 6.6 billion won in revenue and 200 million won in net profit last year. While the revenue scale is not large, it succeeded in turning a profit last year after recording losses until 2023.

Chairman Shin’s two sons do not hold shares in Kyobo Life Insurance Group affiliates. It is currently difficult to predict the succession structure for Chairman Shin, but corporate performance is bound to affect the evaluation of both individuals.

However, at present, Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance itself predicts that a turnaround to profit will not be easy. Kim Young-suk, CEO of Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance, met with reporters at a seminar held at the Korea Insurance Research Institute last June and stated, "A turnaround to profit will be difficult for the time being," adding, "Business conditions, such as the easing of financial authority regulations, must improve."