As Korea Tops the World, "Dream Jobs" Emerge with Half-Year Salaries Reaching 130 Million Won

Securities Firm Employees Outpace Bankers in Pay Amid Stock Market Boom
Meritz Securities Staff Average 131 Million Won in First Half
Financial Holding Companies With Senior Employees Lead Bank Salaries

In the first half of this year, the domestic stock market boom led to securities firm employees receiving the highest salaries in the entire financial sector. Banks also recorded their highest-ever first-half earnings, resulting in a significant increase in employee salaries.

Securities Firm Employees See Significant Salary Increases Amid Stock Market Boom

According to the financial sector on August 19, Meritz Securities recorded the highest average salary among major financial companies for the first half of this year. Employees at this company received an average salary of 131.39 million won per person in the first half. The average salary for headquarters sales employees reached 263.54 million won. Following Meritz Securities, employees at Korea Investment & Securities received an average of 129.01 million won, NH Investment & Securities 105 million won, and Mirae Asset Securities 100 million won per person in the first half. All of these companies saw their employee salaries rise by around 10% compared to the same period last year.

The high salaries for securities firm employees were due to the sharp rise in the domestic stock market during the first half. The KOSPI index rose 28% in the first half of this year, ranking first among major countries worldwide. As the index climbed and investment funds poured in, major securities firms posted record first-half earnings, which in turn led to fatter paychecks for their employees.

Thanks to these strong results, securities firms also paid high compensation to their chief executive officers (CEOs). Kim Namgoo, Chairman of Korea Investment & Securities, received a total compensation of 5.73902 billion won from Korea Investment & Securities and Korea Financial Holdings in the first half. Kim Sunghwan, CEO of Korea Investment & Securities, also received 2.50978 billion won in compensation during the same period. Jang Wonjae, CEO of Meritz Securities, received 1.493 billion won, while Yoon Byungwoon, CEO of NH Investment & Securities, received 1.671 billion won.

Financial Holdings with More Senior Employees Offer Higher Salaries in Banking Sector

Bank employees also received high salaries in the first half of the year. In particular, financial holding companies with a higher proportion of senior employees reported higher average salaries. For the first time, both KB Financial Group and Woori Financial Group exceeded an average half-year salary of 100 million won. KB Financial Group led with 112 million won, followed by Woori Financial Group at 105 million won. Hana Financial Group recorded 95 million won, and Shinhan Financial Group 92 million won.

Among the four major banks, Hana Bank recorded the highest average employee salary in the first half at 68 million won. The other three banks each reported an average of around 62 million won. The average first-half salary per employee at the four major banks was 63.5 million won, surpassing that of major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics (60 million won), LG Electronics (59 million won), and Hyundai Motor Company (45 million won).

The rise in salaries is attributed to improved bank earnings in the first half. The combined net profit of the four major financial holding companies reached a record 10.3254 trillion won in the first half.

On the back of strong performance, bank CEOs also received high compensation. The highest-paid executive in the banking sector in the first half was Yoo Myungsoon, CEO of Citibank Korea. Yoo received a total of 2.8 billion won in salary and 2.596 billion won in bonuses, amounting to 2.876 billion won in the first half. Lee Kwanghee, CEO of SC Bank Korea, received 1.438 billion won during the same period.

Among financial group heads, Ham Youngjoo, Chairman of Hana Financial Group, topped the list with 1.75 billion won in compensation in the first half. During the same period, Jin Okdong, Chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, received 871 million won, Lim Jongryong, Chairman of Woori Financial Group, received 761 million won, and Yang Jonghee, Chairman of KB Financial Group, received 650 million won.