Hanwha Life Insurance buys office building in London

South Korea’s Hanwha Life Insurance Co. has purchased a premium office building in London in an effort to beef up its return from asset management, industry sources said Friday.

Hanwha Life Insurance acquired the Wood Street headquarters building of international law firm Eversheds in London’s financial district for 250 billion won ($224 million) in August, according to the sources.

“We will try to minimize investment risks by purchasing properties overseas for lease and seek stable investment returns,” a company official said.

The insurer’s purchase of the prime office building is widely seen as an attempt to bolster its return on assets amid a prolonged housing slump in South Korea.

Falling property prices in the United Kingdom following the protracted global economic slowdown also prompted South Korea’s No. 2 life insurer to hunt for bargains there, the sources said.

Hanwha Life Insurance, formerly Korea Life Insurance, added it plans to buy real estate assets in other cities around the globe, including Paris and Sydney, and diversify its investment portfolio.

The insurer’s building purchase comes as South Korean insurers are having trouble managing their ballooning assets due to a lack of viable high-yield investments amid the housing slump, market watchers said.

Local life insurers have assets of more than 400 trillion won under their management, with their investment returns staying in the dismal 4-percent range, industry data showed. 

(Yonhap News)