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DEEP RESEARCH · LIFE INSURANCE

Samsung Life and Mirae Asset Life: A Life-Insurance Re-rating Playbook

A comparison of two Korean life insurers through IFRS17, K-ICS, value-up policy and governance catalysts.

Published: 2026-02-22 · Insurance/governance/value-up · Naver Blog

Investment decisions are your responsibility. This material is research, not a recommendation to buy or sell.

0. Bottom line first

Life insurers are now valued less on premium-volume growth and more on CSM, capital efficiency and shareholder returns. Samsung Life is an asset-value and dividend story tied to its Samsung Electronics stake; Mirae Asset Life is more event-driven.

Four re-rating levers for life insurersHow IFRS17 changed the scorecard
CSMFuture earnings source
K-ICSCapital buffer
Value-upDividends and buybacks
GovernanceSpecial situations
Catalysts and capital policy matter as much as static PER/PBR

1. Governance: Samsung Electronics stake vs privatization scenario

Official fact: The source states that Samsung Life holds about 8.51% of Samsung Electronics, and that the end of exceptional accounting from 2025 moved about KRW 44 trillion of stake value into equity, lifting 2025 year-end consolidated equity to KRW 64.8353 trillion.

For Mirae Asset Life, the source says Mirae Asset group affiliates and related parties increased their combined stake from 46.12% at listing in 2015 to 60.70% as of February 2026.

CategorySamsung LifeMirae Asset Life
Core issueKRW 44T Samsung Electronics stake reclassification and insurance-law revisionAffiliate accumulation, succession, and 95% privatization threshold scenario
OwnershipSamsung C&T and related parties 44.1%Mirae Asset Securities and related parties 60.7%, potentially near 85% after cancellation
Investment styleAsset revaluation and dividend yieldEvent-driven, tied to tender-offer or delisting expectations

2. Capital policy and shareholder returns

Capital metricSamsung LifeMirae Asset Life
K-ICS198%, up 5%p as of Q4 2025Lower required-capital burden due to variable and retirement-pension focus
DPSKRW 5,300, up 17.8% YoY, payout ratio 41.3%Cash dividends and treasury-share cancellation
EventMedium-term shareholder-return ratio target of 50%Cancellation of 16 million shares, 9% of shares outstanding

3. Operating fundamentals

Samsung Life

Record net profit

2025 controlling-shareholder net income was KRW 2.3028 trillion, up 9.3% from KRW 2.1068 trillion.

Samsung Life

KRW 13.2T CSM

Year-end 2025 CSM was KRW 13.2 trillion, up KRW 300 billion. The 2026 new-business CSM target is above KRW 3.2 trillion.

Mirae Asset Life

GA turnaround

2024 parent net income was KRW 136.1 billion, up 34.2%. Health and accident new-business CSM rose 82.2% to KRW 231.7 billion.

Samsung Life has 43,000 tied agents contributing 85.4% of new-business CSM. Mirae Asset Life pursues capital efficiency through about 3,500 GA agents and fee income from variable insurance and retirement pensions.

4. New businesses and milestones

  • Samsung Life: life-care ecosystem around health insurance and senior care.
  • Mirae Asset Life: digital healthcare, AI insurtech and GA-platform upgrades using products from 14 partner insurers.
  • 1H 2026: completion of Mirae Asset Life’s 16 million share cancellation and approval.
  • 2H 2026: Samsung Life’s detailed value-up program and capital-policy disclosure.
  • 2026-2027: Samsung Life Act path and potential Samsung Electronics stake sale or special dividend.

5. View and risks

The source frames Samsung Life as the preferred long-term dividend/value holding and Mirae Asset Life as an event candidate. Key risks are Samsung Electronics overhang and ROE dilution for Samsung Life, and liquidity drying up or delisting expectations fading for Mirae Asset Life.

Sources

Naver original