Cumulative Total Exceeds 301.8 Billion in the Past 5 Years
"Regulation Needed for Real Estate PF Concentration"
Bonus payments made to employees in charge of stocks, bonds, and derivatives at the top 10 securities firms amounted to approximately 82 billion KRW as of last year.
According to data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to Kim Jong-min, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the total bonuses paid over the past five years (2018?2022) to employees in the proprietary asset management departments (including stocks, bonds, and derivatives) of the top 10 securities firms (Mirae Asset, Korea Investment, NH Investment, Samsung, KB, Hana, Meritz, Kiwoom, Shinhan Investment, and Daishin) amounted to 301.83 billion KRW.
The specific annual bonus amounts were △469.45 billion KRW in 2018 △447.39 billion KRW in 2019 △552.78 billion KRW in 2020 △728.5 billion KRW in 2021 △819.91 billion KRW in 2022, showing an increase each year.
The securities firms with the largest bonus payments were △Meritz (69.431 billion KRW) △Hana (62.953 billion KRW) △KB (41.355 billion KRW) △Samsung (32.921 billion KRW) △Shinhan Investment (29.681 billion KRW) △Korea Investment (22.831 billion KRW) △NH Investment (19.474 billion KRW) △Mirae Asset (15.082 billion KRW) △Kiwoom (6.35 billion KRW) △Daishin (1.725 billion KRW), in that order.
Securities firms enjoyed record-high performance during 2020?2021, a period marked by a stock investment boom amid the severe COVID-19 pandemic. This was a time when individual investors, known as the so-called 'Donghak Ants,' were actively investing.
However, from the end of 2021, stock markets weakened due to global interest rate hikes, and last year's net profits turned to a decline compared to the previous year.
Last year, the net profit of 58 securities companies totaled 4.5131 trillion KRW, a sharp decrease to less than half compared to the previous year's record high of 9.0896 trillion KRW.
In particular, last year was also a time when concerns over real estate project financing (PF) defaults increased, leading to criticism that some securities firms' 'bonus feasts' were inappropriate.
Assemblyman Kim Jong-min stated, "It is highly inappropriate that high-level bonuses were paid amid the deterioration of real estate PF projects," adding, "Proper regulation is needed to address the excessive concentration of securities firms in real estate PF projects."
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