Meritz Financial Group

Meritz Financial Group Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Meritz Financial, with its major subsidiaries including Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance and Meritz Securities, is one of the major financial groups in South Korea.

History
Meritz Financial Group was formed when Hanjin Group founder Cho Choong-hoon died in 2002. After the founder's death, the group was succeeded by his four sons. Cho Jung-ho, the founder's fourth son, inherited Hanjin's financial arm, including Oriental Fire & Marine Insurance, Meritz Securities, and Korean-French Banking. In 2005, Cho formally broke off the financial affiliates from Hanjin and renamed them Meritz Financial Group. In 2011, Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance launched a financial holding company. It was founded by spinning off a holding company, Meritz Financial Group Inc., from Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance.

Subsidiaries
Meritz Financial Group has five major subsidiaries, including Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance, Meritz Securities, Meritz Asset Management, Meritz Alternative Investment Management, and Meritz Capital.

Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance
Meritz Fire & Marine was established as Chosun Fire & Marine Insurance in 1922 when Korea was under Japanese occupation, with the title of Korea's first general insurer. After Japan's colonial rule, the company became state-owned and was renamed Oriental Fire & Marine in 1950. It was the first insurance company in Korea to be listed on the stock market in 1956. Oriental became a subsidiary of the Hanjin Group in 1967 and broke off from the group in 2005. After the separation, it was renamed Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance.