Aiming Toward Broader Horizon

Korea Investment and Securities aims to be among the five largest investment and securities firms in Asia



President Ryu Sang-ho of Korea Investment and Securities Co.

President Ryu Sang-ho of Korea Investment and Securities Co. is proud of his company’s successful management of the IPO for Samsung Life Insurance Co., the largest ever held in Korea last year, among the IPOs for 15 other firms it managed for a total of 1.25 trillion won, making it number one among securities firms in Korea in the IPO area.
The securities firm has also successfully rooted its ‘I’m You’ asset management service firmly in the company’s operation, with total sales rising to 100 billion won in the first 20 days of the launching of the fund and 400 billion won in only two months. The fund’s net profit came to 7.8 percent as of March 2, the first anniversary of the fund’s launch.
The company has done well in the area of commodity development with its Korea Investment Securities Global Opportunity Fund, launched last year, making a successful debut as a hedge fund, the first such fund managed by the company. The company spun off its product development unit last year to enhance its product development capability.
The company has also done well in its overseas operations last year under its ambitious plan to be counted among the top five investment and securities firms in Asia by 2015. Under the plan, the company has been operating in such Asian countries as Vietnam, a hub of Indochina, China and Hong Kong, a great China hub, and a Russian hub to enter Central Europe and the CIS countries, providing financial consulting services and M&A intermediary services.
In November 2010 the company launched an investment consultancy firm in Beijing to secure a base for investment banking operations, QDII and other businesses in China. In December the company set up KIS Vietnam, a joint venture securities firm.
CEO Ryu used to say his management philosophy is to make everyone happy, management for pre-circulation and kinship, meaning he favors a kind of management that gives top treatment to top talented personnel so that they will produce top results and make the company a place where people want to come to work anxiously and leave it with light heart.
Korea Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. (KITC) was re-formed in June 2005 when the company was merged with Dongwon Securities. The previously named Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd. (KITC) was Korea’s leading distributor of investment trust products, mainly those of its wholly owned subsidiary; while Dongwon Securities was one of Korea’s main securities brokerages. Both of these companies previously played important roles in the development of the Korean capital market and the Korean economy. KITC was a major institutional investor specializing in asset management and sales of Korean funds, while Dongwon Securities was a specialist in securities brokerage, investment banking and derivatives trading.
KITC was originally launched in 1974 as the first investment trust company in Korea. As a leader of the investment trust industry and a major institutional investor specializing in asset management, KITC helped customers manage their assets effectively and made a great contribution to the development of the Korean capital market and economy. Dongwon Securities was established in 1968 and as a member of the Dongwon Group had also played a part in developing the Korean securities markets and the national economy by providing differentiated services and securing global competitiveness.
With the merger, Korea Investment & Securities has become a major financial firm within Korea Financial Holdings and has secured the first position in Korea for IPOs. The new company is now one of the major securities firms in Korea with 110 branch offices, three overseas corporations, one overseas office and 2,290 employees.
The new Korea Investment & Securities aims to win the trust of customers, create significant synergy effects by nurturing corporate financing and asset management, and through further consolidating its already sound financial structure. Through these achievements, Korea Investment & Securities will become the representative merchant bank in Korea and one of Asia’s leading financial institutions. nw

Photos on courtesy of KITC