[비즈한국] Woori Financial Group is pushing for the integration of Tongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance. This comes about one year after the two companies were incorporated as group subsidiaries. The combined entity of Tongyang Life and ABL Life is expected to enter the top five in the domestic life insurance industry upon its launch. As Woori Financial, now equipped with a comprehensive financial group structure, looks to strengthen its non-banking competitiveness through insurance companies, attention is focused on whether the integration of Tongyang Life and ABL Life will proceed smoothly.
On the 18th, Woori Financial announced that it is officially pursuing the integration of Tongyang Life and ABL Life. The integrated life insurance company aims to launch in the second half of 2027. On the 19th, Woori Financial held a town hall meeting attended by executives from both Tongyang Life and ABL Life, presided over by Chairman Yim Jong-yong, to explain the direction and vision of the integration.
Woori Financial presented the management strategy for the integrated insurer, setting goals such as securing stable capital adequacy (risk-based capital ratio) and Contract Service Margin (CSM), while suggesting directions including investment in artificial intelligence (AI), innovation in sales support and management processes, and securing future growth engines like the elderly care business.
Regarding the purpose of the integration, the company explained, "It is a strategy to actively respond to the rapidly changing insurance market environment and concentrate group-level capabilities to foster the integrated insurer as a key subsidiary of the group," adding, "The insurance industry is at an inflection point due to demographic shifts, capital adequacy regulations, and the strengthening of actuarial assumptions. This integration will serve as an opportunity to achieve balanced growth in the group's business portfolio."
Woori Financial acquired Tongyang Life and ABL Life conditionally in May 2025. It incorporated the two companies as subsidiaries in July of that year, and on August 11, it acquired 100% of Tongyang Life's shares, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary. On April 24, Woori Financial disclosed a decision to exchange shares to secure full ownership of Tongyang Life and announced that it would review a merger between Tongyang Life and ABL Life.
Having built a comprehensive financial group structure by acquiring insurance and securities firms, Woori Financial has begun to see the effects of strengthening its non-banking sector. In the first half of 2026, Woori Financial's non-interest income reached a record high of 1.063 trillion KRW. This is a 20% increase compared to the same period last year (886 billion KRW). During the same period, the proportion of the non-banking sector in the group's profits rose to 22.3%, an increase of 15.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year (6.9%).
Woori Financial explained, "While the effects of incorporating insurance subsidiaries are appearing in earnest, we have expanded our business base in the securities sector based on a 1 trillion KRW capital increase," and added, "We have achieved a balanced group profit structure through performance improvements in key subsidiaries such as credit cards, capital, and asset management."
In fact, looking at the first-half net profits of major non-banking subsidiaries, Woori Card recorded 94.5 billion KRW, Woori Financial Capital recorded 76.9 billion KRW, and Woori Investment & Securities recorded 24.7 billion KRW. These figures represent increases of 24%, 14%, and 44%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Notably, Tongyang Life recorded a consolidated net profit of 98.1 billion KRW, the highest net profit after the group's core subsidiary, Woori Bank (1.373 trillion KRW). ABL Life recorded a net profit of only 16.7 billion KRW.
The integration of Tongyang Life and ABL Life could strengthen their competitiveness in the life insurance market. Currently, based on total assets and insurance revenue, Tongyang Life holds a market share in the 5% range, while ABL Life holds about 2%. As of the first half of 2026, Tongyang Life's total assets were 35.5 trillion KRW and ABL Life's were 19.2 trillion KRW; merging the two companies would create a large-scale insurance company with total assets of 55 trillion KRW. It could surpass NH NongHyup Life Insurance (51 trillion KRW as of the first half), which is currently ranked 5th in the industry, and secure a spot in the upper rankings.
Portfolio diversification is also possible. Tongyang Life is considered specialized in protection-type insurance that pays benefits in the event of death, disease, or injury, while ABL Life is specialized in savings-type insurance suitable for retirement funds or building up lump-sum capital. According to Korea Investors Service, in the first quarter of 2026, based on IFRS4 insurance premiums, Tongyang Life's insurance portfolio consisted of 66% protection-type and 23% savings-type insurance, while ABL Life's consisted of 39% protection-type and 55% savings-type insurance.
Attention is also focused on the integration method and procedures of the two companies. A similar case is the merger of Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance. Shinhan Financial Group acquired Orange Life Insurance, which had a similar total asset size to Shinhan Life, in February 2019, received approval from the Financial Services Commission in May 2021, and completed the merger in July. The method involved Shinhan Life absorbing Orange Life, and the integrated entity, Shinhan Life Insurance, rose to 4th place in the industry after its launch.
Shinhan Financial conducted preliminary work such as personnel exchanges and organizational restructuring starting one year before the launch of the integrated Shinhan Life entity. Even so, the internal stabilization process was not smooth, as the company faced conflicts due to differing positions between the existing Shinhan Life and Orange Life labor unions regarding the HR integration agreement after the launch of Shinhan Life Insurance.
However, it appears there will not be significant difficulties in the integration of Tongyang Life and ABL Life. This is because Sung Dae-kyu, the CEO of Tongyang Life who took office in July 2025, has a background of working at Shinhan Life and serving as the initial CEO of Shinhan Life Insurance. Tongyang Life has already begun preliminary work, such as forming a task force for the integration. Woori Financial and Tongyang Life stated, "Specific details such as personnel placement or merger methods have not yet been decided."