Investors asks questions about an IPO of Kakao Games in the Yeouido Branch of Korea Investment & Securities. (Photo: KIS)

This is the hottest year to get involved in initial public offerings (IPO). Thanks to low interest rates and a booming stock market, huge investments flowed into the IPO market, fueling investors’ subscriptions.

Korea Investment & Securities is considered one of the most outstanding securities firms in the IPO market this year. Korea Investment & Securities served as a lead manager in the listing of SK Biopharm, Kakao Games and Big Hit, which has been called the “Big Three” of this year’s IPO market.

The company posted the highest competition rate among lead managers by inviting investors for 31 percent (121,816 shares) of SK Biopharm’s IPO shares.

With respect to an IPO of Kakao Games, 1.76 million shares or 55 percent of subscription shares were allocated to Korea Investment & Securities, and the company collected 32,662.7 billion won.

The company continued the subscription fever by collecting 24,881.9 billion won in evidence for an IPO of Big Hit Entertainment.

As well as being involved in big deals, Korea Investment & Securities has taken care of small- and medium-sized IPOs for companies with a competitive edge in various industries.

This year, the company has been highly recognized as an excellent lead manager as most of its IPO issuances enjoy very high IPO prices, stock market experts say.

From February to October 2020, Korea Investment & Securities Co. participated as lead manager in IPOs for 11 companies, including Sunam, a maker of electric conversion devices that entered the KOSDAQ market in February, and Senko which had an IPO at the end of October.

Six more companies are preparing to have IPOs with Korea Investment & Securities as their lead manager. The six include Wider Planet and Precision Bio, which recently submitted a securities report to the Financial Services Commission.

Korea Investment & Securities has been expanding the management of IPOs of promising tech companies recognized for their strong competitiveness in various fields, resulting in successful their IPOs, said sources in the financial investment industry.

They added that the company’s strength lies in seeking new revenue sources through pre-IPO moves where it invests in equities in promising companies ahead of being listed while acting as an investor that boosts the value of those companies.

In addition, the company’s active use of online investor relations (IR) events via videoconferencing services despite the spread of the new coronavirus that swept the world this year is also cited as a key to making IPOs successful by attracting investors in 2020.

The stellar performance of Korea Investment & Securities in the investment banking (IB) sector is also attributable to the leadership of CEO Jung Il-moon, who is called an “orthodox IB man” with nearly 30 years of experience in the IB sector according to stock market analysts.

Korea Investment & Securities not only contributed to the success of general IPOs but to diversification of the IPO market by successfully lead-managing an IPO of Lotte REITs.

A lot of attention is being paid to what moves Korea Investment & Securities will make with reference to IPOs of promising venture companies and overseas companies expected to grow in the IPO market in the future.

Thanks to its outstanding performances in the IPO market this year, Korea Investment & Securities have secured an unrivaled position in the Korean IB industry, securities industry analysts say.

“We will actively forge ahead with IPOs of venture companies and overseas companies by utilizing special listing conditions in the future,” said an official at Korea Investment & Securities.

In the meantime, Korea Investment & Securities announced on Nov. 19 that it will launch “Bidenomics Wrap,” which invests in companies expected to benefit from the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration in the United States.

“Bidenomics Wrap” will select and invest in major stocks corresponding to Biden’s key pledges of “eco-friendly infrastructure investment” and “developing artificial intelligence and expanding 5G infrastructure.” Good examples are Tesla and Enphase Energy in the field of eco-friendly cars and energy and AMD and Qualcomm in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence.

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