[Manbo Jeongdam] The Namsan Path That Saved Me... Walking and Walking Again to Strengthen My Will to Challenge

Bae Jaekyu, CEO of Korea Investment Trust Management
Determined to Return by Walking for Health Recovery in 2014
Strives to Present How Average People Can Consistently Earn Money
"Must Live by Balancing Important and Urgent Tasks Well"

Editor's Note'Manbo Jeongdam (萬步情談)' is a segment within the 'One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day Thousand Characters' movement, featuring interviews with notable figures who love walking. The interviews are conducted while walking together, discussing topics such as work, life, health, and happiness.

"Right here. Just a little more effort!" With Namsan Seoul Tower just 100 meters ahead, Jae-gyu Bae, CEO of Korea Investment Trust Management, encouraged the exhausted reporters. Since the entire Seoul cityscape was visible, it felt like we had arrived, but a steep staircase awaited. My thighs trembled, and I felt like I was gasping for breath, but then the Namsan Tower came into view. It was the highest destination planned for today.

Walking 2 Hours: Namsangol Park - Mokmyeoksan Horaengi - Namsan Seoul Tower - National Theater

We met CEO Bae at Exit 3 of Chungmuro Station and walked together for about two hours from Namsangol Park through Mokmyeoksan Horaengi, Namsan Seoul Tower, and the National Theater. This is the Namsan walking trail that revitalized CEO Bae.

"I've really walked this path hundreds of times. In summer, the leaves grow thick, blocking the sunlight, and after a full lap, it feels cool."

"Is this the path you used to walk often?" (Reporter)

"Yes, yes. From here up to Namsan Tower and then down to the National Theater. When I was at my previous company, I took a six-month leave due to illness. My stamina had weakened a lot then, but walking this path helped me regain strength. Walking really boosted my motivation."

Bae Jaekyu, CEO of Korea Investment Trust, is walking along the Namsan Hanok Village trail leading up to the Namsan Dulle-gil in Seoul. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

CEO Jae-gyu Bae is known as the 'Father of Korean ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds)' in the capital market. In 2002, when active products dominated, he introduced the first ETF to the domestic fund market. Later, in 2009 and 2010, he launched Asia's first inverse ETF and leveraged ETF, further expanding the ETF market's horizons.

Born in 1961, CEO Bae graduated from Yonsei University and entered the financial industry in 1989 by joining the securities trust department at Korea Comprehensive Finance. In 2000, he moved to Samsung Investment Trust Management (now Samsung Asset Management), serving as head of the KOSDAQ team, head of the index management division, ETF management team leader in 2007, and eventually vice president overseeing bonds, passive investments, overseas investments, and asset allocation management.

"In 2014, when I was taking a short break, Mirae Asset Management was rapidly rising. The president at the time told me it wouldn't work if I stayed idle, so I hurriedly got back in shape."

A Brief Rest at a Favorite Tea House on the Namsan Trail

The walk that started at Chungmuro Station passed through Namsangol Park, known for its traditional hanok village, and entered the Namsan walking trail. After walking for a while, CEO Bae's favorite tea house, 'Mokmyeoksan Horaengi,' came into view.

"Let's have a cup of ginseng tea here before we go."

CEO Bae lamented that ginseng tea had disappeared from the menu but settled in to sit. His story continued even in the tea house. He said that during his break from work, his motivation actually surged. Rather than regretting the time spent running forward blindly, a stronger will toward work welled up.

"Others might say that when your body is a bit sick, work or money don't matter, but for me, having gone through such hardship, I felt I had to achieve something. I thought I had to work harder. Live better. Relentlessly. Walking the Namsan trail, I kept reinforcing that determination."

CEO Bae Jaekyu often visits the regular tea house "Mokmyeoksan Horaengi" when walking along Namsan-gil. Photo by Park Soyeon

CEO Bae's exceptional spirit of challenge and perseverance is an asset instilled by his father.

"I think it's partly personal temperament. I attended elementary school in the countryside, and our family was the wealthiest in the village. Across from our house was a large rice paddy used as a seedbed (a place where rice seedlings are grown). My father would take me there and have me wrestle at school start time. I hadn't even enrolled yet. I would grab the older boys going to school and wrestle with them. That habit of wrestling with bigger boys stuck with me, so I don't know how to give up."

Father Had Him Wrestle with Taller Boys... Learned Challenge and Perseverance

In February last year, he officially took office as CEO of Korea Investment Trust Management. Founded in 1974, Korea Investment Trust Management is the first asset management company in Korea, but its current assets under management (AUM) stand at around 52 trillion won, ranking seventh in the industry. It was once called one of the 'Big Three' alongside Samsung Asset Management and Mirae Asset Management, but after losing its status as a public fund manager and with the fund market reorganizing around direct investments and ETFs, its position has narrowed.

With CEO Bae's appointment in February last year, a change began at the struggling Korea Investment Trust Management. Leveraging his experience of making Korea's first ETF the best, CEO Bae dreams of a resurgence for the company.

"What a CEO can do is different. Unlike the 'number two,' there are many decisions I can make. This is exactly what I wanted."

Having been reappointed this year, CEO Jae-gyu Bae plans to accelerate increasing ETF market share, his 'major subject,' by promoting Korea Investment Trust Management's ETF brand 'ACE.' From now on, the path ahead is a steep staircase for CEO Bae. After a cup of tea, we resumed walking, and the flat walking trail ended, revealing the rugged stairs leading up to Namsan Tower.

"From here on, it's a full-fledged uphill climb. Walking these stairs flushes out waste products. Blood circulates strongly. Let's go."

At first, the stairs were manageable, but as they continued endlessly, my thighs felt like they were burning. Seeing the reporters struggling, CEO Bae encouraged us with a 'kind lie,' saying, "We're almost there, just past that point." Following the nimble CEO Bae while staggering upward, we reached a flat area with benches offering a panoramic view of Seoul.

"We used to take pictures here and send them to our families. You can rest on this bench. A short break and you can climb again."

Following CEO Bae's advice, after a brief rest on the bench, we gathered our strength and climbed again, finally reaching Namsan Tower. The tower was bustling with tourists who had returned to Korea after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Sometimes I have a cup of coffee at Starbucks over there."

"Make the Other Party Seek You Out"

At the summit, the conversation naturally shifted to Starbucks' rental fee policy.

"There's always a Starbucks in prime locations, thanks to their rental policy. Starbucks pays about 10-20% of sales as rent, linked to sales. So if they enter a place with a good view, they sell a lot and can pay the landlord more rent. Landlords compete to have Starbucks. Successful companies are different. Paying high rent to get a good spot is one way, but even better is making the other party seek you out."

The descent from Namsan Tower was smooth. The conversation shifted to coffee taste, decaffeination methods, and ChatGPT.

"I heard there are various ways to decaffeinate coffee, so I asked ChatGPT."

"Why did you ask that?" (Reporter)

"Ah, once I start chatting with ChatGPT at night, an hour just flies by. I'm curious. When I get an answer, I ask again, and again. I keep using the paid version."

After attending the world's largest mobile telecommunications exhibition, Mobile World Congress (MWC 2023), held last month in Barcelona, Spain, CEO Bae asked ChatGPT to summarize the event. The reply was that it couldn't do so.

"It said its information only goes up to 2021. Then ChatGPT told me that based on previous MWC events, it could predict what might happen at MWC 2023. It's smart."

He also asked ChatGPT to list five factors that could change human life in the future.

"Artificial intelligence, blockchain, life sciences, and I can't remember the other two. I'll just ask again tonight (laughs). You can ask anytime. For example, if I ask 'Why blockchain?' it answers again. Time flies like that."

"Creativity Is Editing and Connecting... ChatGPT's Utility Will Be Great"

When asked whether ChatGPT could perform moral, critical, and creative activities in the future, CEO Bae asked back, "What is creativity?"

"The definition of words is always important. Once you define the meaning of a word, things get easier. I once attended an executive training lecture on 'What is creativity?' The explanation I heard, which may not be the absolute answer, was that 'creativity' means 'Editing and Connecting.' That resonated with me. In the past, people used pencils and erasers separately, but someone attached an eraser to a pencil to make it more convenient. A higher level of creativity is connecting things that seem unrelated to create utility. Like Apple's iPhone. If creativity is defined as 'editing and connecting,' then ChatGPT's utility in terms of creativity cannot be ignored."

After chatting extensively about ChatGPT, we finally reached the final destination of the walk, the National Theater.

"This is the course I enjoy walking. Thank you for your effort. It's nice to walk again after a long time."

Not wanting to part just yet, CEO Bae brought up the topic of the 'essence of work.'

"You know those friends who say, 'Let's have a meal sometime,' but never contact you again? If you look closely, they're not lying; they're genuinely busy. They waste their lives handling only urgent matters. They seem to live diligently now, but after time passes, nothing remains. People fall behind even if they only do important things, but if they only do urgent things, there's no future. You have to think about the essence of what you're doing now. Live balancing important and urgent tasks well."

Maintaining Steady Transactions and Building Trust with Clients

Asset management companies do not engage in one-off transactions with clients but maintain ongoing relationships and build trust. Therefore, CEO Bae is very interested in helping ordinary people increase their wealth through sensible investments, which in turn enriches society as a whole.

"Ordinary people find it hard to focus on investing while doing their own work. Even if they spend 10 or 20 years concentrating, there is no sharp answer. So the way to invest is to put money into the most common-sense methods. From the investment business perspective, it's not about products for lucky people but about offering ways for very average people to make money in ten years. I want to find such methods for people so that the total wealth of our society can increase."