Hana Financial Investment to change name to Hana Securities

The headquarters of Hana Financial Investment, right, and Shinhan Financial Investment in Seoul's financial district of Yeouido. Hana Financial Investment is set to change its company name on July 1, while Shinhan Financial Investment is considering a name change. Graphic image based on Yonhap photo

Shinhan Financial mulls company name change

By Anna J. Park

Hana Financial Investment will change its company name to Hana Securities on July 1. The brokerage firm changed to its current name from Hana Daetoo Securities in 2015.

While including "financial" and "investment" in the name was a trend among securities companies for quite some time during an expansion period of investment banking operations, securities companies now appear to be returning to more traditional names.

According to Hana Financial Investment, the name change to Hana Securities was approved at a shareholders' meeting last Friday. Hana Financial explained that the new company name is aimed at becoming more accessible to customers by being shorter, while setting a new vision of pursuing consistent innovation and change.

"With 'Hana Securities,' which is an easier-to-use and more comfortable name, we plan to more closely approach customers, while aiming to transform into a company that creates new investments and businesses," an official at Hana Financial said.

With Hana Financial's own capital standing at over 6 trillion won ($4.68 billion), it is rapidly becoming one of the largest investment banking firms in Korea. The firm plans to continue advancing into the global market with the name change.

Meanwhile, Shinhan Financial Investment is also mulling a name change to either Shinhan Securities or Shinhan Investment & Securities. However, discussions have just begun, and the company does not have a specific timeline yet for the change.

"Nothing has been specifically determined as of now about a company name change," an official from Shinhan Financial told The Korea Times, Monday. "It could happen as early as within this year, but nothing is decided firmly for now."

The official explained that a name change is one of the company's considerations for this year, aiming to seek changes within the firm. It could be included on the agenda at the firm's shareholders' meeting slated for the end of the month, but it's not confirmed for now.

Whether Shinhan Financial changes its name within this year or not, one thing that can be observed through the two financial companies' examples is that the market preference for the word "securities" has increased from a decade ago.

Market watchers say the word "securities" being in a financial company's name was not only considered outdated, but also slightly negative in connotation due to the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.

That could be part of the reason why Shinhan Financial Investment came up with the current company name in 2009, from its previous name of "GoodMorning Shinhan Securities." However, the public's perception of the word "securities" has improved a lot following the explosive popularity of stock investments in Korea in more recent years.

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