Co-CEO Yoon Kyung-eun of KB Securities.

Co-CEO Chun Byoung-jo of KB Securities.

KB Securities co-CEOs Yoon Kyung-eun and Chun Byoung-jo revealed their plans for the first for the firm, which officially launched on Jan. 2. Hyundai Securities and KB Investment & Securities were merged after KB Financial Group acquired the former about a year ago.

KB Securities reorganized its operational setup by merging products and services of the Wealth Management Dep’t, strengthening its digital operation and improving its operation to cope with environmental changes more actively, the securities firms said on Dec. 7, 2017.

Yoon, who was Hyundai Securities CEO, said that KB Securities will become "one of the leading financial investment companies in Asia." "Along with existing financial firms, KB Securities will expand its promissory note and foreign exchange businesses to create innovation in the capital market here," Yoon said during the conference at the Conrad Hotel on Yeouido, Seoul.

Among the organizational changes, the Wealth Management team, which manages private retirement funds, overseas investments, and financial services, has been placed directly under President Yoon Kyung-eun to strengthen its operation by providing “total solutions” to customers and at the same time enhance its competitive power, the company said.

The retirement fund section has been transferred to the Wealth Management Dep’t to provide further diversified products and services to customers. The retirement pension fund market is expanding rapidly. 

The overseas investment sector has been transferred to the Overseas Product Dep’t after dividing up the dep’t into institutions and individual sections to strengthen the overseas investments sector. 

The heads of the newly established KB Securities said Jan. 22 that synergy with KB Financial Group will help it achieve its goal of becoming a leading mega-sized investment bank (IB).

After the merger, KB Securities became one of the big five securities firms here with 4 trillion won in equity ― a government-set standard for a mega-sized IB ― which will be allowed to partake in a broader range of business activities such as issuing promissory notes or conducting foreign exchange.

Yoon also said that the strength of the firm is the expected synergy with KB Financial Group affiliates, especially KB Kookmin Bank, the largest bank in Korea, by the number of active clients surpassing 12 million.

"The establishment of KB Securities is not a simple merger of two securities firm," Yoon said. "We believe strengthening business cooperation with the bank is one of our core projects and our future lies with this."

As part of such efforts, the firm has established five corporate and investment banking (CIB) centers across the country and 25 branches specialized in wealth management.

"There are approximately 3.75 million in Korea and KB finances 300,000 of them. This means that KB Securities has many investment destinations," said Chun, who formerly headed KB Investment & Securities. "Our goal is not only making investments in these companies but also providing solutions to their financial and non-financial problems through the CIB centers."

By doing that, the two CEOs said the firm seeks to raise its return-on-equity to the global standard of 10 percent by 2020.

"After the merger, we came up with three key phrases for KB securities' business — sustainable growth, total IB and investing IB," said Chun.

"Securities firms should not be content with being a brokerage house but should play a greater role in increasing public wealth," said Yoon. "By being a large firm, we can give more stability to clients. This can help us be one of the leading IBs in Asia." 

A view of the KB Securities building in Yeouido, Seoul.(Photos: KB Securities)