Woori Asset Management and Woori PE Asset Management in the Same Building
Close to Woori Investment & Securities
"Strengthening the Non-Bank Portfolio"
The Woori Bank Investment Banking (IB) Group, elevated to a separate organization, will relocate to Park One in Yeouido, Seoul. Woori Financial Group plans to gather its capital market affiliates in Yeouido to further accelerate its IB business.
According to the financial sector on the 7th, Woori Bank's IB Group will move from its Myeongdong headquarters to the 34th floor of Park One Tower 1 in Yeouido as soon as the interior construction is completed on the 30th of next month.
With this move, all capital market-related affiliates of Woori Financial Group will be located in Yeouido. In particular, Woori Asset Management and Woori PE Asset Management are housed in the same Park One Tower 1. Woori Investment & Securities, launched last August, is located in Yeouido TP Tower. Among the four major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori), only Woori Bank had not placed its IB-related organization in Yeouido until now. The IB business benefits from being conducted in financial hubs like Yeouido. Since IB business involves areas that cannot be replaced by IT systems in terms of information access or sales, it requires direct, on-the-ground efforts. Being close to Yeouido, where financial and securities-related information and networking are actively conducted, facilitates related sales activities. The fact that securities firms and the Korea Development Bank have their headquarters in Yeouido aligns with this reasoning.
As Woori Bank's IB Group establishes its new base, Woori Financial Group is expected to enjoy synergy effects among its capital market affiliates. Synergy with Woori Investment & Securities is particularly anticipated. Woori Investment & Securities, formed through the acquisition of POS Securities and merger with Woori Comprehensive Financial, applied for a full license for investment trading at the end of last month and is set to begin full-scale operations. The review is expected to be completed within a month, allowing the company to conduct related business by next month at the latest. Once licensed for investment trading, it can engage in IB-related activities such as initial public offerings (IPOs) and derivative transactions.
The separate organization of Woori Bank's IB Group is also interpreted as a move to leverage synergy effects among capital market affiliates. In December last year, Woori Bank reorganized its structure by separating the IB Group from the existing groups. While reducing the number of groups within the headquarters from 20 to 17, the IB Group, previously part of the CIB Group, was separated. At that time, Woori Financial Group stated that the separation was to "generate synergy with affiliates such as Woori Investment & Securities and Woori Asset Management."
The affiliates have already demonstrated results through collaboration, and Woori Financial Group expects its non-bank portfolio to be further strengthened. On the 14th of last month, Woori Financial Group announced a joint investment of $150 million (approximately 210 billion KRW) with the French investment bank Natixis in two data centers in the United States. The data centers are located in Arizona and Virginia and are both 'hyperscale' data centers with 15-year long-term lease contracts with Amazon. Woori Financial explained that this investment is a case of maximizing synergy by combining Woori PE Asset Management’s overseas fund management experience with Woori Bank IB Group’s global investment know-how.
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