[2024 Capital Investment Target] "High Growth in Asset Management and Retirement Pensions, Strengthening IB and Research Capabilities"

Review Comments by Lee Jun-seo, Chair of the Jury (President of the Korean Securities Association)

Despite a challenging environment marked by a sluggish stock market, the cleanup of poor project financing (PF), and risks surrounding the U.S. presidential election, securities firms and asset management companies performed well in terms of results this year. Notably, they achieved remarkable growth in the wealth management (WM) and retirement pension sectors. The corporate finance (IB) division also turned crisis into opportunity. Additionally, differentiated research capabilities utilizing mobile trading systems (MTS) and artificial intelligence (AI) appear to have been strengthened.

Lee Jun-seo, President of the Korean Securities Association, is delivering a judging comment at the '2024 Asia Capital Investment Awards Ceremony' held on the 5th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The Asia Capital Investment Awards were established to boost the morale of financial investment companies contributing to the sound development of the capital market. Accordingly, the judging panel conducted a rigorous evaluation by dividing the sectors into WM, IB, information technology (IT), research, retirement pensions, funds, and deals, based on official documents submitted by 14 securities firms and asset management companies, as well as evaluation materials prepared by the Asia Economy staff.

This year’s grand prize was awarded to Samsung Securities. Leading the asset management market through its dedicated WM brand ‘SNI,’ it surpassed 320 trillion KRW in retail deposit assets. In corporate finance (IB), it secured new mandates for large-scale initial public offerings (IPOs) worth trillions of won and consistently achieved strong underwriting performance, resulting in a 29% increase in related net fee income compared to last year.

The WM division’s excellence awards were jointly awarded to Korea Investment & Securities and KB Securities. Korea Investment & Securities enhanced the stability and profitability of customer asset management through competitive products such as bonds, profit-loss differentiated funds, and global products. It strengthened non-face-to-face channels in collaboration with Toss Bank, Kakao Bank, and continuously developed new products. KB Securities provided optimized investment solutions through a nationwide branch network and a private banker (PB) center specialized for high-net-worth clients. It also led the advancement of digital asset management to offer AI-based hyper-personalized asset management services.

The IB division’s excellence award went to Daishin Securities. It handled major corporate bond issuances and rights offering lead underwriting, while its New Technology Finance Division solidified its position as a top market player by achieving nearly 1 trillion KRW in cumulative assets under management (AUM).

The research division’s excellence award was given to NH Investment & Securities. It expanded its global coverage not only to major countries such as the U.S., China, and Japan but also to emerging markets including India. By applying traditional statistical methodologies and AI technologies, it provided differentiated content with industry-leading analytical capabilities.

In the retirement pension division, Mirae Asset Securities and Hana Securities were jointly selected for the excellence award. Mirae Asset Securities surpassed 27 trillion KRW in retirement pension reserves as of the end of last month by offering non-face-to-face consultation services and retirement income tax simulation consulting through its Pension Asset Management Center. Hana Securities achieved first place in the securities industry for the return on defined contribution (DC) principal-guarantee-free products through a differentiated asset allocation strategy focused on long-term return enhancement rather than short-term yields.

The MTS division’s excellence award was given to Shinhan Investment Corp. Its ‘Shinhan SOL’ securities app, characterized by an intuitive UI/UX (user interface/user experience), satisfied diverse investment demands. To accommodate the recent surge in overseas stock investors, it expanded related services such as overseas stock rights information, a U.S. stock community, and investment indicator-based recommendation features.

In the fund division, Mirae Asset Global Investments was selected as the best asset manager. Not only did it lead the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market through ‘TIGER ETF,’ but it also provided various investment opportunities such as innovation growth ETFs. As of the end of October, it managed a total of 608 ETFs worldwide with net assets totaling 187 trillion KRW.

Four asset management companies were selected for the best fund awards. Samsung Asset Management’s Samsung Global Chat AI Fund, the first domestic Chat AI investment product, recorded excellent returns in both currency-exposed and currency-hedged types; Korea Investment Management’s Korea Investment Credit Focus ESG Fund attracted over 1 trillion KRW in inflows this year; KB Asset Management’s KB On Gukmin TDF 2055 achieved a 26% return over the past year due to high compound effects; and Shinhan Asset Management’s Shinhan Didim Global EMP Fund ranked first in individual investor inflows among Didim funds.

The deal division’s excellence award went to the IMM Consortium, which achieved outstanding results through its buyout investment in Ecobit. It received high praise for successfully closing the deal at a fair price that met market evaluations despite competition from global financial investors (FIs).

We sincerely congratulate all the awarded securities firms and asset management companies and urge them to continue leading the development of the domestic capital market with consumer-centered, innovative, and future-oriented strategies. Thank you.