President Chung Il-moon of Korea Investment and Securities Co.

Korea Investment and Securities Co. (KIS) has always been known as a company that has the most sound profit base in the industry, as its first half results this year show up an astounding 42 percent YoY increase at 408 billion won.

That’s despite various hindrances to normal operations during the period including the U.S.-China trade rift, allowing the company to continue to chug ahead to be a top IB in Asia. Sales in the same period were 5.880,4 trillion won, up 40 percent YoY with operating profit coming in at 518.6 billion won, up 37.1 percent YoY.

The IB and Asset Management sectors led the record growth during the period with the IB sector posting 140.3 billion won in fees income, up 56.2 percent YoY, while the Asset Management sector registering 488.9 billion won in profit up 46.6 percent YoY.

What helped the company become one of the few in the industry with a solid profit structure and post record figures was its strategy that changed its operational paradigm.

The company was able to shed the old business of brokering securities for its clients and became a securities firm that manages its customers assets.

The company no longer felt that its past investment practices can keep it going amid the uncertain financial environment led by low interest rates.

KIS decided to develop diverse new products for its customers with its affiliates cooperating with the its various departments, with the most representative product being the overseas real estate funds.

The company came up with the fund in 2016 before any of its rivals. So far, the company operates 18 real estate funds worth 800 billion won, which were publicly funded. The company kept developing the products related to the funds.

This year, the two were put on the market including the one geared for investment in Italy’s Pirelli tire research center and the other for investment in an office building in Brussels.

In the second half, the company plans to put on the market a number of funds including one to be invested in real estates in the Netherlands expanding the areas for investments and the objectives as well.

The company won the public attention by developing and searching out the overseas funds that are new the domestic customers so called the “white labeling” products.

From 2016, KIS used the tieups with such global fund managers as Wellington Management, State Street, Global Adviser, Doubleline Capital, and Reg Mason, among others, to introduce new funds to domestic customers.

The company has been able to set up a diverse product lines including global securities, U.S. securities, and global bonds.

The company has also been building its network linking its operations in emerging countries in Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Last year, the company boosted the capital of its local subsidiary KIS Vietnam to the tune of 38 billion won to rank it the 8th largest in Vietnam.