South Korea’s Hanwha General Insurance Co. outperformed major non-life insurers with a 14 percent surge in net profit in the first quarter.

Industry analysts attribute this success to Hanwha’s strategic move to pioneer a new market with women-focused insurance products, despite growing competition making product differentiation increasingly channeling.

According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service on Sunday, Hanwha General Insurance posted a net profit of 142.7 billion won ($101.8 million) in the January-March period, up 14 percent from the same period a year ago.

The company achieved 19.3 billion won in new contract sales for long-term protection-type products – core offerings in the non-life insurance sector – growing 7 percent from the same period last year.

In contrast, major competitors such as Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, DB Insurance Co., and Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co., saw net profits drop by 5 percent to 57 percent.

The first quarter posed challenges for profit growth in the non-life insurance sector, with unexpected events such as increased car accidents due to heavy rains and prolonged large-scale wildfires in the North and South Gyeongsang Provinces driving up loss ratios.

Despite these hurdles, Hanwha’s success is partly attributed to its diverse range of women-specific insurance products not offered by competitors.

Since launching the Signature Women’s Health Insurance 1.0 in July 2023, Hanwha has continued to receive strong interest.

The product line, now in its third version, has generated a cumulative 319.5 billion won in premiums as of April 2025 – making it one of the fastest-growing in terms of premium income among Hanwha’s offerings.

Following the launch of the Signature Women’s Health Insurance, the number of new long-term policyholders at Hanwha increased by 38 percent on year, with the number of female customers rising nearly 60 percent during the same period.

The proportion of female customers among new enrollees also rose from under 50 percent to 56 percent after the product’s release.

The company’s success in attracting younger customers is also notable.

During the same period, new enrolments among women aged 15 to 49 more than doubled.

A key draw was the inclusion of various rider options tailored to women’s health, such as a childbirth support benefit offering 1 million won for the first child, 3 million won for the second, and 5 million won for the third.

Industry observers are now closely watching how Hanwha will integrate and utilize Carrot Insurance, a digital insurer launched in 2019.

Carrot struggled to turn a profit and was recently fully merged into Hanwha. While the synergy between Carrot’s digital business and Hanwha’s offline operations could drive growth, some speculate it may also become a burden on performance.

Hanwha plans to actively use the Carrot brand, which has established a solid image as a leading digital insurer over the past six years.

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