Ocean Life Insurance

Ocean Life Insurance

Nusara Assakul Banyatpiyaphod, daughter of the founder, runs Ocean Life Insurance as CEO and President from its Bangkok headquarters, while Kirati Assakul serves as Chairman. The firm was established in 1949 as a domestic Thai life, health, and accident insurer. Dai-ichi Life Holdings previously held a 24% stake and partnered on group insurance distribution, though the current ownership structure is not publicly detailed. The Assakul family remains at the operational center. The general-account portfolio runs across three asset classes: commercial office, hospitality, and residential real estate. Office holdings include Ocean Tower 1 on Ratchadapisek Road and Ocean Tower 2 at Asoke Montri, both in Bangkok. In hospitality, the firm owns the Mövenpick Asara Resort & Spa in Hua Hin and the Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, which also supports a strategic alliance with Siam Seaplane for amphibious charter services. Residential assets span the Ocean Portofino and O2 Condominium Ploenchit projects, extending to Ocean Residence in Khon Kaen. The balance sheet is funded by premium income from products such as Ocean Life 10/4 and CI120 riders, distributed through a national branch network and proprietary app, Ocean Club. No AUM or total deployment figure is publicly disclosed. The firm participates in the Thai Life Assurance Association, where Nusara Assakul holds the presidency, and maintains ties to the Thai Institute of Directors. The Ocean Life Foundation sits alongside the insurance entity as the family's philanthropic vehicle. In 2019, Dai-ichi Life publicly booked a $148 million gain on its stake sale, signalling a partial exit (per Nikkei Asia, 2019). The structural distinction lies in the direct ownership model: insurance premiums do not merely fund a third-party asset manager's mandate but flow into a self-administered portfolio of operating real estate. This vertical integration gives the Assakul family control over both the liability engine — a life and health insurance book — and the real assets it finances, a configuration rare among Southeast Asian insurers where balance-sheet investments typically sit in public securities or external funds.