[1mm Financial Talk] Why Shinhan Financial Appointed a Competitor's 40s Manager as Sonbo President

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Shinhan Financial Group has made headlines by making a bold move to appoint a competitor’s 40-something ‘Manager’ as the new insurance subsidiary’s ‘Chief Executive Officer (CEO).’

According to financial circles on the 13th, Shinhan Financial Group held a subsidiary management committee meeting at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, the day before and appointed Kang Byung-kwan (45, photo), former head of the investment management division (Manager) at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, as the head of the BNPP Cardif Non-Life Insurance acquisition task force and candidate for president. Shinhan Financial announced the acquisition of Cardif Non-Life Insurance last November to enter the non-life insurance business and is currently undergoing regulatory approval for the subsidiary’s incorporation.

Born in 1977 and 45 years old this year, appointee Kang majored in Mathematics and Computer Engineering at POSTECH and earned a master’s degree in Mathematics from New York University. Typically, insurance companies are dominated by majors in economics, finance, or law. Although engineering majors occasionally appear for technical sales roles, employees majoring in mathematics or applied statistics are rare except for actuaries.

While in college, Kang worked as an IT solution and service development programmer at startups such as Cafe24. After joining Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in 2006, he held key positions in planning, risk management, overseas strategy and global business, and management divisions, rapidly rising to head of the investment management division (Manager) in 2020. Additionally, he was responsible for the practical construction of Samsung Financial Network’s digital integrated platform and recently played various roles across the non-life insurance sector, including promoting joint ventures with domestic and international platform companies to establish Samsung Fire’s digital non-life insurance company.

Kang was known for his outstanding work ability and maintaining smooth relationships and communication with both senior and junior staff, earning strong trust. A financial industry insider said, “Typically, those born in 1977 are now reaching branch manager (Manager) positions in banks, and in the more conservative insurance sector, many are at deputy general manager level, with few at manager level. Considering his master’s degree, his promotion speed among peers is quite fast.”

Within the industry, which is known for its conservatism, appointing a 40-something, especially a competitor’s manager-level employee, as the new subsidiary’s CEO is considered ‘unprecedented.’ Although there are some cases like Jo Ji-eun (47), CEO of LINA Life Insurance, who became the youngest CEO in the industry at age 45 in 2020, such cases are rare. An industry official said, “While foreign or private equity fund (PEF)-owned insurance companies sometimes appoint young CEOs, this is unheard of in traditional insurers. Moreover, promoting a manager-level employee who has never been an executive directly to president is a very bold personnel move.”

Shinhan Financial commented, “We highly evaluated his rich insurance market experience and broad perspective relative to his age and career, as well as his challenging career crossing new fields. We expect him to bring fresh resonance not only within Shinhan Financial Group but across the financial industry by presenting various visions and ideas for digital non-life insurance, regardless of industry customs.”

Shinhan Financial appointed Kang because they judged him to be the right person to develop Cardif Non-Life Insurance into a ‘digital non-life insurer.’ Kang has held traditional key positions such as planning and risk management at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and also has experience promoting digital businesses. The subsidiary management committee stated, “Many financial companies are interested in digital non-life insurance, but there are no clear success cases yet. The appointee’s experience and expertise in establishing a digital non-life insurer through joint ventures with leading domestic and international companies and investing in overseas non-life insurance markets will be a major driving force for Cardif Non-Life Insurance’s future transformation.”