Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (SFMI) (Korean: 삼성화재) is a South Korean insurance company based in Seoul. It is a subsidiary of Samsung Group. Its business portfolio includes automobile insurance, long-term insurance, general insurance (commercial lines), enterprise risk management, and annuities.
Incorporated on January 26, 1952, under the name of "Korea Anbo Fire Marine Reinsurance Co.", the company changed its name to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd., in December 1993, after its takeover by Samsung Group back in 1958. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, is operating property and casualty insurance business and third-party insurance business defined by the Korea Insurance Business Act, while also engaging in providing financial services and instruments approved by relevant laws and regulations including the Korea Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act.
As of 2015, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance had seven overseas subsidiaries in Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Brazil, Europe, US, and Singapore.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance was incorporated on January 26, 1952, under the name, "Korea Anbo Fire Marine Reinsurance Co.," and was renamed Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd., in December 1993.
Anbo Fire Marine Reinsurance originated from an education group called Hunsesa founded by Koo Jin-hyun. In the face of financial difficulties in managing Hunsesa since 1950 agriraian reform in Korea, Koo made a decision to establish an insurance company with capital of KRW 2 billion. He hed an inaugural meeting at his office at 32, Daechang-dong 2ga, Busan, and officially launched Korea Anbo Fire & Marine Reinsurance on January 26, 1952, which marked the foundation of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.
Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. was founded in June 1956 by large shareholders of Josun Life Insurance, the first insurer in Korea. Considering adverse conditions of insurance business back then, Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance appointed media mogul Jang Gi-young, who was the owner of the Hankuk Ilbo Daily and served as the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea. Ankuk fire & Marine Insurance was founded with capital worth KRW 100 million and had its headquarters in 60, Songhyun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and office in Ankuk-dong from which the name of the company originated.
Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance in late 1950s has been showing sluggish sales performance since its foundation and barely maintaining its business relying on subsequent premium income. Samsung, which emerged as a strong player in the Korean economy, had keen interests in developing the insurance business. Samsung was offered by large shareholders of Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance to take over financially troubled Ankuk, and acquired the company in February 1958 accordingly.
The military regime which took power in Korea after the May 16 coup in 1961 pursued reform and development of the insurance industry as part of efforts to support economic growth. Additional move to induce capital increase allowed small insolvent non-life insurers to fail, and facilitated consolidation within the property and casualty insurance industry. Anbo, financially struggling to increase capital took over Ankuk in November 1962 after mulling over between M&A and sale of the company. The new company that merged Anbo and Ankuk in February 1963 started out under the name of Anbo. However, as consumers were more familiar with the name, Ankuk, it was renamed as Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance in March 1963.
Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance had conducted a survey on the Japanese market with a keen interest in long-term savings-type insurance sold by Japanese non-life insurers. As Daehan Fire & Marine Insurance and Dongbang Marine Insurance filed applications for long-term insurance sales, the government welcomed the move and gave its approval to non-life insurers. Since it got the green light for home general insurance sales in November 1969, Ankuk launched home insurance sales division and set up branches in March 1970, and expanded sales force. As a result, the company rose to the second largest player after Dongbang Marine Insurance.
Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance made an initial public offering (IPO) in June 1975 and made a turnaround to modernize its business. The IPO was the fourth of its kind in the property and casualty industry in Korea. The public offering complied with government platform for business reform to prevent monopolization through separation of capital from management and motivate public participation in corporate activities. After the IPO, Ankuk made a substantial improvement by putting priority on their shareholders.
The Korean government identified structural problems in the motor insurance industry and announced the Motor Insurance Reformative Plan on March 25, 1983, in line with its policy platform for economic liberalization and market opening. The plan allowed ten non-life insurers to freely sell motor insurance products which had been sold exclusively by Hankuk Motor Insurance. Ankuk Fire & Marine Insurance secured wide claims service network and made inroads into the motor insurance market. Since then, the company surpassed Hankuk Motor Insurance to top the domestic motor insurance market in 1984.
To reinforce its customer service, Ankuk launched the Customer Service Center in January 1989 and Midnight Express, the first night-time motor accident claims service in Korea, in November 1989. The Customer Service Center received motor accident reports and provided various services at the request of customers. Midnight Express dealt with night-time accidents from 8:30 a.m. across the country, and provided emergency road service for significant accidents within Seoul.
Samsung Group Chairman Lee Geon-hee declared the New Management on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Second Foundation of the Group on March 22, 1993, so as to shift its management focus from quantity to quality. In line with the spirit of the New Management, Ankuk restructured its management framework through massive investment in infrastructure, reform of system, and institutions, and management of various reform projects.
The company followed in the Group's footsteps to declare its second foundation on October 4, 1993. The second foundation was designed to transform the company into a top-tier global property and casualty insurer based on the principle of quality improvement. The company also changed its name to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in December to get closer to customers by using the renowned brand, Samsung.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance bought Yuseong training campus from Hanil Group in May 1994. The training campus is fully furbished with education facilities, accommodations, and other amenities.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance participated in a joint venture investment with Tugu Insurance (which majority owned by Pertamina) to establish PT Asuransi Samsung Tugu in Indonesia in February 1997 for the first time in the Korean non-life insurance industry, as part of an effort to enter the Indonesian market and build a foothold in the Southeast Asian insurance market. Turning profits from the first year, the Indonesian subsidiary has been cited as a successful overseas investment.
Since 1993, SFMI has provided support for bereaved families of car accident victims, especially young students who lost their families to automobile accidents, hence need financial support. In partnership with the Korea National Police Agency, SFMI provided "Big Love Scholarship" to children of car accident victims and traffic policemen who lost their lives in the line of duty.
As part of disabled support project, SFMI set up SFMI Guide-dog School in 1995 to raise and donate seeing-eye dogs for safe and independent travel of the visually challenged. SFMI Guide-dog School is the one and only such school established by a company, and it is a certified guide-dog school by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Korea. Through two to three rounds of distribution every year, the school donated over 149 guide dogs pro bono to the visually challenged families by 2012.
In partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science Technology (MEST) and Disabled First Movement Headquarters, SFMI has produced and distributed a TV drama program on the disabled every year since October 2008 in an attempt to raise juvenile awareness of disabled people.
SFMI has held music talent camps and concerts for students with disabilities in association with the National Institute of Special Education, Disabled First Movement Headquarters, and Korea Nazarene University.
In terms of environment protection, SFMI adopted electronic general terms & conditions system in 2009, where it offers premium discounts to customers opting for eco-friendly electronic general terms and conditions (e-GTC), electronic policies, etc. By saving the discounted amount, SFMI raised a fund to create small school forests for employees' alma maters.
SFMI operates the Samsung Global Loss Control Center (GLCC) and Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute to conduct research and studies associated with insurance risks and transportation. It also runs Samsung Transportation Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
SFMI hosts World Baduk Masters Championship every year, an open Baduk (Go) competition for both professional and amateur Baduk players. The Championship began in 1996 in association with the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) and the local Joong-Ang Daily.