Ron Van Oijen: Unique Sales Force in South Korea 2006 Results Show Strong Earnings Capacity Surfi Ng the Internet’S Second Wave
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01 February 2007 Ron van Oijen: Unique sales force in South Korea 2006 results show strong earnings capacity Surfi ng the internet’s second wave ING Shareholder 01 – February 2007 1 Dear reader, This is the fi rst issue of ING Shareholder in 2007 planning to use the new wave of internet technol- This magazine is a quarterly publication and growth is the recurring theme throughout ogy. Building brand awareness is very important by ING Group for shareholders and others the magazine. It is clear that growth is much more in growing a business. The ING Renault Formula interested in ING. than short-term profi t. The 2006 annual results One sponsorship is a key part of ING’s strategy Subscribe to ING Shareholder show that ING achieved strong growth in underly- to develop its global brand. We take a look at Fax (+31) 411 65 21 25 ing profi t and that building on the momentum of the recent unveiling of the ING-branded Renault Mail P.O. Box 258, 5280 AG Boxtel profi table growth is the theme for 2007. racing car in Amsterdam, which marked the The Netherlands beginning of the three year sponsorship deal. This Internet: www.ing.com In an interview Michel Tilmant emphasises the created much media attention and was a taste of importance of striking the right balance between the publicity to come, when the fi rst Grand Prix Editorial offi ce growth and return. This issue is further investi- race begins in Melbourne, Australia in March. ING Group, Corporate Communications gated in the article on managing for value, which Investor Relations Department looks into one of the key tools ING is using to On a different note, as a shareholder you may be P.O. Box 810, 1000 AV Amsterdam ensure that growth also remains sustainable. interested to know that from 20 March this year, The Netherlands shareholders and holders of bearer depository Tel. (+31) 20 541 54 60 In a profi le on ING Life Korea, we look at how receipts will be able to submit questions about Fax (+31) 20 541 54 54 a business manages to achieve growth in a items on the agenda of the Shareholders’ meet- [email protected] highly concentrated insurance market. Among ing. ING wishes to give its shareholders the ISSN 1874–0472 other things, it is necessary to differentiate your opportunity for dialogue on the content of the Design business from the competition. In the case of ING agenda. To submit your questions, please go to VisualSpace Life Korea, this has largely been done through the www.ing.com/group. Questions pertaining the superior quality of its people and services. Shareholders’ meeting will be answered either on Photography the site or during the meeting itself. Cover photo by Eun Joong Joo (Ron van Oijen at Growth is also evident in the story about the Deoksugung Palace in Seoul). Other photos by Internet, which is back in the news again, bigger Aldwin Izarin/Hans van der Linde, Bernd Böhm, and better than before. We look at how business, Sung Kyun, Marco Sweering, Hadewych Veys particularly fi nancial businesses such as ING, are The editorial team Print Thieme Amsterdam © 2007 ING Groep N.V. All rights reserved. While every care was taken in the preparation of this magazine, no responsibility can be accepted for any inaccuracies. 2 ING Shareholder 01 – February 2007 ING Shareholder 01 – February 2007 Contents Business & Markets 4 ING Life Korea: the story behind its success 8 Business News 6 Launch of the ING Renault F1 6 ING Capital Life Insurance in China 4 6 To Russia with life 6 ING goes carbon neutral 10 Beating the competition with local expertise 11 Striving for more value, the ING Managing-for-Value initiative 8 Strategy & Results 12 Strategy pays off in 2006, Michel Tilmant explains how 15 Financial results Q4 2006 Views & Analysis 15 19 Forecasting the future, and why it is so important to ING 20 Surfi ng, surfi ng! The internet is making news again 22 ING Trust Offi ce 23 Painting now! ING and fi gurative art 20 23 ING Shareholder 01 – February 2007 3 4 ING Shareholder 01 – February 2007 Business & Markets In addition to corporate advertising campaigns, ING Life Korea invited ING Life Korea over 50,000 customers to a pop concert as a token of appreciation of their support. The concert took place in Jamshil Olympic Main Stadium on Dynamic growth May 20, 2006. engine in Asia The connection between Korea and the Netherlands goes back a long way. In 1653, Hendrik Hamel, a Dutch seaman, survived a shipwreck and became the fi rst Westerner to write extensively about South Korea, introducing the country to the outside world through detailed accounts of his stay. The relationship between the two countries has gone from strength to strength since then. n a business level, ING Life Korea is one of ING’s fastest The model has not only driven our fast growth, but even brought growing business units and ranks top in terms of Value about fundamental changes in the insurance market landscape.” O of New Business (VNB). Its successful business model is also admired by the South Korean community at large, as the Tied-agent model company was recently ranked the number one foreign company Originally the business, like all its competitors, sold its life in South Korea by Korea’s leading business magazine, HanKyung insurance through independent agents, who might typically be Business Weekly. shop-owners or part-timers. The agents did not have suffi cient experience or knowledge, the role was not seen by people as a Since its establishment in 1989, ING Life Korea has overcome true ‘profession’ and turnover was high. a major domestic economic crisis and climbed from relatively humble beginnings to become the fourth biggest player on the New professionalism transforms industry South Korean life insurance market and the largest foreign insurer So in 1995, a major restructuring was carried out: the 1000 tied in terms of gross premium income. So what is the secret behind agent force was reduced to 200 and the company launched this success story? ING Life Korea themselves attribute it to their a new strategy. ING Life Korea’s agents must have a university new approach to selling life insurance, with the uncompromising degree and have received intensive on- and off-line training to quality of its tied agents. make them the most professional on the market. They were offered a unique commission scheme and they were re-branded “Our tied-agent network consists of professional, self-employed as ‘fi nancial consultants’ (FCs), with their role broadened from just fi nancial consultants” explains Ron van Oijen, CEO of ING Life selling single insurance products to providing a full fi nancial life Korea. “Their quality truly differentiates ING Life Korea from planning consultancy. traditional rivals, who rely heavily on non-professional part-timers. ING Shareholder 01 – February 2007 5 Business & Markets “Hiring people with the right qualifi cations is the key to meeting A well-diversifi ed product range the needs of Korean customers,” according to Jongwon Kim, “ING Life Korea has a well-built product portfolio,” says Ron sales director of ING Life Korea. “FCs are selected after a rigorous van Oijen. “Rather than selling one type of product, we provide recruitment process from candidates with a university education customers with a wide selection of products that can be adjusted and at least three years work experience. They then undergo to the different circumstances people fi nd themselves in during a comprehensive two-month training programme covering their lives, from getting married and sending their children to everything from basic insurance and product knowledge to university to retiring.” Life insurance and annuities are the basic products in fi nancial consulting, which cover the big two risks in life: premature death and outliving your savings. Of course, “ ING Life Korea is fi rmly customers can choose among a wide range of product options. established as a leading player Currently, ING Life Korea offers Critical Illness Whole Life, Variable Universal products, Term Life Insurance, variable products and in the bancassurance market” mutual funds to help customers meet their fi nancial needs. FCs advise customers how and what to choose. practical sales skills and sophisticated fi nancial planning based on ING Life Korea is now fi rmly established as a leading player in the a customer’s lifecycle. Afterwards, they are also required to take bancassurance market. “As the market in South Korea is expected a series of training programmes to keep up with new fi nancial to continue to grow through deregulation, we plan to increase planning skills and products, which are keeping them far more sales volume in each partner bank by offering channel distin- competitive than their peers.” guished products as well as expanding our distribution network to more commercial banks,” explains Van Oijen. The commission scheme pays FCs a signifi cant lump sum against sales, which is then withdrawn on a pro rata basis should the Fast growth of direct channel customer later surrender their policy. The result is that our sales In 2005, the ING Life Direct Channel was launched and has force are motivated not only to make initial sales but to maintain grown quickly with new business premium income reaching a high retention rate through good customer after-care. This is EUR 2 million by December 2006. The ING Life Direct Channel vital, as success in the highly competitive insurance industry in sells ‘value for money’ and ‘easy to understand’ products through South Korea depends not only on products, but even more on the TV home-shopping channels and newspapers.