President Jung Il-moon of Korea Investment & Securities Co. (Photo: KIS)

Korea Investment & Securities Co.(KIS) posted 3.183,6 trillion won in the 1st quarter this year, up 34.7 percent YoY with net profit coming to 218.6 billion won, up 44.5 percent YoY while operating profit rising 33 percent YoY at 274.6 billion won.

The company topped all others in the same industry in net profit exceeding the 200 billion won mark thanks to the investment banking and asset management sector of its operation for their outstanding records in the quarter.

As a key subsidiary of Korea Investment Holdings, Korea Investment & Securities produces balanced and stable profit across all business divisions from brokerage and asset management to investment banking and trading. It also demonstrates the highest level of efficiency in the industry.

In order to maintain a competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive market, KIS is concentrating on growing the investment banking and asset management businesses to keep pace with policy changes and market trends while it continues to explore new growth opportunities.

The company’s vision in 2019 is ‘Client First, Field First’. It plans to go beyond Korea’s best and become the best investment bank in Asia.
Jung Il-moon, new chief executive officer of Korea Investment & Securities Co., has pledged to attain 1 trillion won (US$893 million) in operating profit this year.

In his first press conference as CEO held on Jan. 7, Jung said, “The company’s operating profit before taxes last year is tentatively estimated at some 600 billion won (US$536 million), a new record. This year’s goal is to reach 1 trillion won (US$893 million) in operating profit.”

Jung became the new head of Korea Investment & Securities on Jan. 2. He joined the company in 1988 as a new employee through regular recruitment and worked for 30 years only at the company. He worked at the investment banking (IB) division for 27 years and at the retail division for three years. He has become the first CEO who joined the company as a new employee through regular recruitment since its founding.

Jung proposed core strategies to accomplish this year’s goal of 1 trillion won (US$893 million) in operating profit, including the creation of synergy between subsidiaries and headquarters, the optimization of resource utilization and thorough risk management and the improvement of digital finance competitiveness.

He said, “Korea Investment Holdings Inc. is a financial group based on brokerage subsidiaries so it cannot expect assistance from such external sectors as banking and manufacturing. It is crucial to share strengths among subsidiaries and create synergy between the headquarters and subsidiaries in order to expand the base of future growth.”

Jung added, “We will set up specific collaboration goals for synergy between headquarters and divisions. We are planning to fairly evaluate direct and indirect level of their contribution to the company’s profits and give rewards.”

He also said, “With financial regulators strengthening regulations, including the reintroduction of comprehensive assessment system, we are pushing for new businesses, including real estate trust. We will put stress on the right path of business and pursue preemptive and thorough risk management.

We are also planning to create a digital finance team and strengthen the competitiveness in digital finance.”
He then said, “Retail accounted for 30 percent of the total profits last year, while IB took up the remaining 70 percent. The current market situation isn’t very favorable to increase profits in the retail sector this year. However, we will be able to achieve the goal if we focus on the IB and PI sectors.”