S&P ‘A’ rating for Korean Re Swiss subsidiary paves way for ‘major hub’

Korean Re’s reinsurance subsidiary in Switzerland, which opened on 1 June 2019, has achieved an ‘A’ rating from S&P Global Ratings.

S&P said it viewed the Swiss entity, Korean Re Switzerland AG, as a core subsidiary of Korean Re, which is expected to play a critical role for the parent group to expand its reinsurance business in Europe. This subsidiary is “set to receive strong support from the group in operations, underwriting, reinsurance and risk management,” the agency added. It also acknowledge that the Swiss subsidiary is fully integrated with the group operations and is integral for the group’s strategy to grow its overseas business.

Jong-Gyu Won, Korean Re CEO, said: “It is definitely great news, which heralds a good start for Korean Re Switzerland. I expect our new entity to become a major hub that brings growth to our international business.”

The Korean reinsurer plans to increase the portion of its overseas business to 80 percent by 2050 from its current level of 24.7 percent of its total revenue (gross written premiums).

Korean Re said it has a “strong commitment” to growing its overseas business based on “recognition that expanding into the global market is not a matter of choice but a matter of survival”.

The insurer’s first overseas foothold came in 2015 when it entered the Lloyd’s market in London by establishing Korean Re Underwriting. It followed this by opening a branch in Labuan, Malaysia in 2017 and a branch in Dubai, the UAE in 2018.

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