[PB Travelogue] Park Ji-sung Is Also a Client... Many Successor-type Young Rich

General Public Should Invest in 'Their Own Field'
"Recommend Buying One Book at Large Bookstores Every Weekend"

On the 8th, the Woori Bank TCE Gangnam Center, a unique space that marked a milestone in the domestic wealth management (WM) market, was visited. This space, originally used as the PB center of LG Investment & Securities (now NH Investment & Securities), was acquired by Woori Financial Group and reborn in 2005 as Korea's first 'bank-securities complex branch' with the launch of Woori Investment & Securities.

This plan seemed to fall through after Woori Investment & Securities was resold, but in 2015, Woori Bank took on another challenge by applying the ‘PICB service,’ which combines private banking (PB), corporate banking (CB), and investment banking (IB), at the Gangnam Center.

Park Seung-an, the center director met that day, is also a former Samsung Securities PB and has led the TCE Gangnam Center for over 20 years since being recruited to Woori Financial during the tenure of former chairman Hwang Young-ki. Having experience in both securities firms and banks, he is one of the few who have worked in both banking and securities simultaneously.

Located in the heart of Teheran-ro, known as the land of opportunity, this center is also not free from wealthy clients. For example, it is rumored that Park Ji-sung (42), a football player born in 1982, is one of the center’s major clients.

Inheritance-type Wealthy Clients Still Predominate

Director Park believes that wealthy clients take various forms depending on the source and path of their wealth. Broadly, they can be divided into ‘inheritance-type,’ who inherit family businesses or assets from previous generations, and ‘self-made,’ who have built wealth through their own talents such as startup founders.

Furthermore, inheritance-type wealthy clients can be subdivided into family business and real estate inheritance types, while self-made types can be classified into business, investment, and entertainment/sports types, depending on the origin of their inherited assets and wealth, according to Director Park. In the case of Park Ji-sung, a major client of this center, he would be classified as self-made ? entertainment/sports type.

Among various wealthy clients, the largest group is the ‘inheritance-type.’ Although startup founders, young investors, entertainment and sports stars, and YouTubers are gaining attention as the media environment develops, in reality, most wealthy clients inherit wealth from previous generations.

Director Park said, "There were quite a few young wealthy individuals in the past as well, but the reason wealthy clients are gaining renewed attention is that Korea’s capital market has not even fully developed for 50 years yet. In conglomerates and large corporations, the third and fourth generations who inherited assets from their predecessors are now established, but among the general wealthy class, it is only now that the second generation in their 30s and 40s are inheriting (their parents’ assets) and gaining attention."

Regarding inheritance-type wealthy clients, parental influence on asset management is still significant. He explained, "In the case of inheritance-type wealthy clients, rather than the clients themselves actively engaging in investment, parents often set the asset management methods. Individuals also unknowingly learn know-how from their parents’ generation."

Self-made wealthy clients tend to focus on real estate assets for now. Director Park explained, "Overseas, self-made wealthy clients have a long history, so their asset management is diversified, but in Korea, there are few cases to benchmark, so investment products tend to concentrate on real estate."

Advice to Investors: "Build Your Own Domain Instead of Chasing Illusions"

However, Director Park expressed concern about the excessive bias in public perception regarding the recently highlighted wealthy clients. Although public and media attention is focused on self-made and inheritance-type wealthy clients, their success stories are of little help to ordinary investors who are trying to build wealth through financial investment. He said, "For example, BTS achieved global success, but they had their own domain, and even if someone says they earned 1 billion or 2 billion won, that is someone else’s story. You cannot become them because their DNA structure itself is different. When it comes to financial investment, I believe it is right to invest in ‘your own field’ above all else."

In particular, Director Park advised investors dreaming of wealth to pioneer their own fields. He emphasized, "For instance, would any stock market expert easily disclose their own know-how? Someone might be suited to stocks, while another might be better with bonds. It is important to find the field you like and can excel in."

Director Park also offered a tip: "I recommend visiting a large bookstore every weekend to buy one book for at least the next six months to a year. In a year, you will have about 52 books, and through that, you will discover the areas you are interested in." He added, "I believe young people’s financial investment is about spending precious time to ‘find their own path.’"