Hanwha Connects to Golf Fans with the
2023 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown
As the world returns to normalcy, audiences are once again eagerly gathering at stadiums and fields to watch their favorite sports.
During the pandemic, sports remained an important part of keeping people entertained, healthy, and connected to their friends and loved ones. Specifically, participation in solo sports saw an increase, as they were considered safer alternatives and could be done without the need for interaction with a team or other players. As an outdoor sport played solo or in small groups, golf also surged in popularity during the pandemic, with the number of golfers just in the U.S. increasing by 500,000 — the largest net increase in 17 years.
Despite the increase in group sports participation as pandemic measures eased, golf's popularity did not slow, with fans and players continuing to flock to the course and tournaments. After a five-year hiatus, the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, an LPGA team-match golf tournament between eight countries, has also returned, once again bringing fans together to enjoy an exciting competition featuring some of the world’s top female golfers.
Enriching Lives Around the Globe
This year’s Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown was the fourth edition of the tournament, with some of the best female golf talents showcasing their prowess as fans offered support from the sidelines. After a fierce tournament, Ariya Jutanugarn, Patty Tavatanakit, Moriya Jutanugarn and Atthaya Thitikul of Team Thailand took home the glory. Over the four-day tournament, golfers and attendees alike were able to watch the various matches up close while connecting with other fans as well as the LIFEPLUS brand. As the title sponsor of the International Crown tournament since 2023, LIFEPLUS aims to enhance customers’ lives through diverse products, services, and activities, including golf.
LIFEPLUS is a joint brand representing Hanwha’s five financial affiliates: Hanwha Life, Hanwha General Insurance, Hanwha Investment & Securities, Hanwha Asset Management, and Hanwha Savings Bank. Under its mission of promoting “holistic wellness,” the brand aims to offer products and services that integrate the four concepts of wellness central to the brand — financial, physical, mental, and inspirational — to help its customers plan their lives.
LIFEPLUS offers a variety of personalized digital services, such as its STEPS app, which allows users to invest in fractional shares, giving them more financial freedom. By offering fractional share purchases, STEPS lets everyone reap the benefits of investing, even if they don’t have much cash on hand. Additionally, the LIFEPLUS TRIBES app connects users to “tribes” of people who share their unique interests and hobbies, providing new ways for users to engage these interests through events and partnerships and helping them set goals to complete challenges.
LIFEPLUS began its sponsorship of the International Crown in line with its aim to promote holistic wellness and provide valuable experiences to its customers on a larger scale, seeking to connect with golf players and fans all over the globe.
A Match to Crown the Champion
Since its inception in 2014, the tournament has showcased some of the best golf talent from nations around the world in team-centric matches.
Each year has awarded a different champion, with Spain taking home the Crown at the first tournament in 2014, the U.S. nabbing first place in 2016, and South Korea winning in 2018. As the defending champion this year, South Korea went up against the U.S., Japan, Sweden, Thailand, England, Australia, and China in a fierce competition for the Crown. The competing teams were determined by world rankings, specifically from the combined Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings of the top four players from each country.
This year’s tournament held several thrilling victories along with a host of unexpected twists. The reigning champions from Korea suffered early losses, knocking them out of the semifinals despite later wins. Sweden started off strong with a 4-and-3 victory over England, creating momentum that would ultimately land them a spot in the semifinals. However, the top-seeded American team defeated Sweden 2-1 in the third-place match. Ultimately, it was sixth-ranking Thailand that secured a surprise victory. The team’s impressive perfect streak through round-robin play on Sunday ousted the U.S. team from a spot in the finals. Thailand went on to complete their near-perfect tournament run with a 3-0 victory over Australia in the final battle for the Crown.
Thailand’s team wins the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown for 2023
To add to the excitement of the event, attendees could enjoy a suite of new features at this year’s venue of TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. The Sunday matches utilized a different format for the semifinals and final matches, with the teams playing two singles matches and one foursome match in order to determine the top country.
Un-fore-gettable Experiences With LIFEPLUS
The Korean team having fun at the 2023 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown
Over the four-day event, attendees were able to engage with the LIFEPLUS brand through a memorable tournament promoting sportsmanship and healthy competition. LIFEPLUS offered a FAN Park for visitors to enjoy inside the venue, including a welcome lounge, a putting zone for those looking to practice their shot, a “relax zone” to recharge throughout the day, and more. After a five-year hiatus, this year’s International Crown was a resounding success, attracting guests from all over the world as they came to support their country’s team. The next Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown is slated to be held in 2025, as the tournament heads back to South Korea for the second time.
LIFEPLUS congratulates the winners and extends its gratitude to all the participants and attendees for helping lead a successful return of the tournament. Through diverse activities such as the International Crown tournament and its other products and services, LIFEPLUS remains committed to enriching lives around the world, striving boldly towards its goal of holistic wellness for all.
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Hanwha Life
Established in 1946, Hanwha Life is a leading life insurance company that is both the first and the oldest in South Korea. Early on, we played a critical role in developing the insurance industry and the country’s economic growth.
In 2017, we expanded but made sure to stay structurally sound. We reported total assets of USD 102.96 billion. At the end of 2017, we achieved a 206.4 percent risk-based capital (RBC) ratio, demonstrating the soundness of our asset quality. Our strong credit ratings from both domestic agencies and abroad attest to our creditworthiness. We have received sterling AAA credit ratings from South Korea’s top rating agencies for the past eleven years. From abroad, we received global credit ratings of A1 from Moody's and A+ from Pitch international credit rating agencies.
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Hanwha General Insurance
Established in 1946, Hanwha General Insurance is the first South Korean insurance company funded solely by domestic capital. Throughout history, we’ve played a pivotal role in developing South Korea’s general insurance industry. Today, we’re a major insurer with total assets of nearly USD 14 billion. We use advanced services to enhance customer value and offer a comprehensive product portfolio ranging from long-term insurance to auto and general insurance. We created a Consumer Protection charter, improved service quality and minimized customer inconvenience to provide an overall superior customer experience. We also expanded the scope of what our call center agents could do to ensure a one-call, one-stop system. In addition, we were the first South Korean insurer to introduce an electronic signature system, making it easier for customers to complete transactions from their mobile devices. We have even introduced a mobile application called Smart Insu, catering to the ways and needs of our customer. More than 100,000 customers have installed the app.
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Hanwha Investment & Securities
Established in 1962, Hanwha Investment & Securities provides comprehensive asset management services, including brokerage and acquisition of stocks, bonds, and derivatives, as well as sales and asset management services for various financial products. With our differentiated systems and high-quality talent, we have successfully established ourselves as a reliable asset management partner. Our financial products and customer-oriented services are offered domestically and overseas.
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Hanwha Asset Management
Founded in 1988, Hanwha Asset Management has grown into a comprehensive asset management company offering a full range of financial instruments, including stocks, bonds, MMFs, fund of funds, social overhead capital, derivatives, real estate, ETFs, and PEFs in both domestic and overseas capital markets. At the end of 2017, we were among South Korea’s top three asset management companies with USD 82.17 billion in assets under management (AUM). We have top-tier expertise and well-organized systems in all areas, including product development, research, compliance, and risk management. All our products and services cater to the needs of our customers because we apply our principles and management philosophy to placing our customers first before anything else.
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Hanwha Savings Bank
Founded in 1997, Hanwha Savings Bank joined Hanwha Group in 2008 and has since grown into one of the most stable savings banks in the industry. Even in unfavorable business climates, we’ve been able to safely pursue external growth with our experienced sales teams and a highly disciplined management team. We also found success extending the fundamental roles of microfinance institutions and supporting small and medium-sized companies with great potential.
