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| From left are Mirae Asset Securities Chairman Choi Hyun-man, NH Investment & Securities CEO Jeong Young-chae, Korea Investment & Securities CEO Chung Il-moon and Shinhan Securities CEO Kim Sang-tae. Courtesy of each firm |
By Lee Min-hyung
The leaders of Korea's brokerage houses are calling for the need to bolster platform prowess and turn the ongoing market crisis into an opportunity for sustainable growth.
In a New Year's address released Monday, Mirae Asset Securities Chairman Choi Hyun-man urged the brokerage's employees to focus on finding new growth opportunities by enhancing platform competitiveness through digital transformation.
"Artificial intelligence (AI) technology helps us recognize customers' future demand," Choi said. "We need to focus on innovation and growth by speeding up digital transformation and AI development."
He also underscored the importance of pursuing strategic innovation.
"The notion refers to the reorganization of key businesses, thereby finding new opportunities in a difficult situation," he said. "We should think out of the box and build unique business models."
NH Investment & Securities CEO Jeong Young-chae also stressed the necessity of a complete overhaul of its platform.
"I want our employees and executives to think again about whether our platform was useful enough for customers," Jeong said in a New Year's message. "We should build a platform that can offer what they actually want in a timely manner, rather than one that shows off something fancy."
He called the company "a platform player in the capital market," saying that its key role is to connect demand and supply in the market.
"We should contribute to creating the market and helping develop our customers and society," he said. "Toward that end, our platform should be of use to them by making constant improvements. NH will be able to identify hidden demand from customers only after updating our insight."
Top executives from other securities firms also shared a common vision of seeking growth opportunities in 2023 despite prevalent pessimism in the market.
Shinhan Securities CEO Kim Sang-tae shared his ambition of turning the year 2023 into a period for a strategic rebound.
"So far, we have had a period of recovery to enhance our fundamentals, but now Shinhan needs to make an opportunity for our leap forward and enhance our market status," he said.
The leader of the Shinhan affiliate underscored the need to revamp its business structure and strengthen its wealth management division.
"Shinhan Securities' future depends on whether we can reform the wealth management business in a more customer-oriented manner," he said.
Korea Investment & Securities CEO Chung Il-moon placed top management focus on risk management this year.
"The essence of our business comes with risks, and we create value in exchange for the risks," he said. "In other words, we can attain sustainable and stable business growth only after managing risks in a more preemptive and structural manner."
Chung left open the possibility that the market will head in an unpredictable direction this year.
"We have experienced a very tough time in 2022 and are still suffering from the aftermath of the market doldrums," he said. "Securities firms faced drastic earnings falls amid worsening investor sentiment along with the shrinking economy. We should diversify our revenue streams, so as not to be swayed by any market turbulence."
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