Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai stressed that the company should cross the boundaries of finance based on group-wide cooperation to cope with big tech finance.
“As a general financial group, we need to upgrade our strengths to the next level and compete with our competitors,” Chairman Kim said in his New Year’s address on Jan. 3.
Chairman Kim first pointed out the clear limitations of existing financial holding companies in Korea.
“The market capitalization of Kakao Bank which succeeded in having its initial public offering last year once reached 45 trillion won and that of Kakao Pay 33 trillion won,” he said.
“On the other hand, we have much more assets and make more profits as a general financial group with a bank, a securities firm, a credit card issuer, a capital company and an insurer.
“Hana Financial Group’s market capitalization is only one fifth of each of the two companies’ market capitalizations. It is a very unreasonable result, but more objectively, the market sees Hana Financial Group as a big dinosaur that will eventually become extinct,” the chairman added.
“We have a strong offline channel that big tech companies do not have,” Chairman Kim added. “We need to transform it into a customer-centered omni-channel and provide differentiated consulting services in areas where offline contacts are essential based on our financial expertise.”
“We need to actively promote investment and collaboration in companies with big future growth potential based on customized digital services for corporate customers that big tech companies can hardly partner with and our group’s capital power,” Chairman Kim stressed.
The chairman emphasized the importance of digital transformation.
“Digital transformation should be our top priority and proceed faster,” he said. “We need to redesign the group’s digital core foundation while not just shouting a slogan. Only if this is preceded, we will be able to complete an ecosystem that leads partnerships or investments with competent external companies.”
In addition, Chairman Kim emphasized the need to enter the global market. All Hana subsidiaries should find business models through which they can collaborate and enter the global market together with digital innovation.
“We need to further strengthen the group’s global human and material infrastructure and practice ESG management in line with global standards,” Chairman Kim explained.
“If we concentrate on what we can do well to achieve continuous growth in the financial sector and expand our business areas beyond the boundaries of finance to the digital and global sectors, Hana Financial Group will be able to create a completely new future.”
Meanwhile, Hana Financial Group said in late December 2021 that it won an ‘A’ grade in the 2021 ESG evaluation conducted by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).
Hana Financial Group’s acquisition of the A grade meant that it jumped by one notch from 2020.
This was because Hana Financial Group earned high points by establishing its ESG evaluation policy “Sustainable Financial Framework” and an ESG monitoring process for project financing as a member of the “Equator Principles” and performing a climate change scenario analysis for its loan portfolios, an MSCI report said.
The MSCI has international authority in the field of ESG evaluation. It has been evaluating ESG indices for listed companies around the world every year since 1999.
The organization uses 10 topics and 35 core issues in the areas of the environment, society, and governance in its evaluation process and grants seven grades from AAA to CCC according to evaluation results.
“We are happy that this MSCI ESG evaluation rating duly recognized the group’s executives’ and employees’ efforts to put ESG management into practice and strengthen it,” a Hana Financial Group official said.
“Hana Financial Group will continue to take the lead in global ESG management by sincerely carrying out ESG management activities in various fields.”
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