President Gwon Yong-won of Kiwoom Securities Co.(Photo:Kiwoom Securities)

Kiwoom Securities Co. has maintained the largest share of the stock market 10 years in a row, a golden tower that the securities firm started in 2005. It is particularly noticeable in the online securities trading market with the securities firm marking a number of enviable achievements in the sector. In the center of this remarkable achievement for the company is its CEO, Gwon Yong-won, who is in his 7th year running the firm.

President Gwon has unique career experience. He is an electronics graduate of Seoul National University and earned an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. He entered the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the current Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy after passing the National Exam for Public Servants in the Technology Sector. Gwon worked for the ministry for over 20 years, having been in charge of important posts including industrial technology and venture businesses and many others in the IT area.

Gwon entered the financial sector when he was over 40, after going through Daou Technology, Incube Tech, Daou Exilicon, taking charge of key positions in those firms. He led Kiwoom Securities to be the strongest in online trading with abundant experience in the IT sector as a weapon.

The various experiments that he used to develop online securities trading have become milestones in the industry. He gets credit for expanding online securities trading to other financial areas, including asset management and online the subscription of funds. He moved one step faster than rival firms, boosting his company’s market share as much as 30 percent.

As soon as he took the company as the CEO, he streamlined its financial affiliates, and in the process set up Kiwoom Asset Management. His first moves after that were to take over an Indonesian subsidiary of now-defunct Dongseo Securities — the Dongseo Securities Indonesia, and Kiwoom Savings Bank, the former Samshin Savings Bank — which were followed by the takeover of Woori Savings Bank in September last year.

The takeover of Woori Asset Management was followed by the launch of Kiwoom Investment Asset Management in a merger with Kiwoom Asset Management. The synergy created from the Kiwoom Investment Asset Management — with 22 trillion won in assets — was big enough to make Kiwoom Securities an integrated financial group.

Gwon has been CEO around 10 years, but he seems to feel there is more to be done for the company. The year 2014 was a big one for Gwon. The securities firm to continued to turn out segregated business models, making the company stronger and stronger. He set up the Kiwoom Online Fund Asset, introducing various financial fund products accessible at low fees. As if he was in a race to expand business territory, he set up a new investment solution. As a result, Kiwoom Securities’ operating profit amounted to 100.3 billion won last year, double that of the previous year. Net profit was 75.5 billion won, showing the world what a small, but growing securities firm is capable of.

The CEO this year will focus on Fintech, adding it to its stable of financial products. Most recently, Gwon announced that the company will join the race to set up an Internet bank. It’s already secured an advantageous position in the race. He said he feels that the Fintech area would be an answer to the securities firm’s suffering from sluggish market conditions.

Kiwoom was a late starter, but has been able to grow fast with its segregated base called the IT model as a base, passing over the bigger securities firms with deep pockets in growth. Kiwoom Securities is in the middle of Fintech and the financial industry in Korea, so that it can show off better than its rivals what it can do with Fintech in its operation.