Hwang Sungyeop of Shinyoung Securities Elected as 7th Chairman of Korea Financial Investment Association with 57.36% of Votes

Hwang Sungyeop, CEO of Shinyoung Securities, has been elected as the 7th Chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association.

On December 18, Hwang was elected with 57.36% of the votes in the second round of voting held at the Financial Investment Center in Yeouido. Lee Hyunseung, former CEO of KB Asset Management, who also advanced to the final round, received 41.81% of the votes.

This election proceeded to a runoff. In the first round, Hwang Sungyeop received 43.40%, Lee Hyunseung received 38.28%, and Seo Yooseok, the current Chairman of the Association, received 18.27%. However, since no candidate secured a majority, the top two candidates, Hwang Sungyeop and Lee Hyunseung, advanced to the runoff.

This is the second time a runoff has been held in the association's chairman election, the first being during the election for the second chairman in 2012.

Previously, the association's Candidate Recommendation Committee had finalized three candidates for the next chairman: Seo Yooseok, the current chairman; Hwang Sungyeop, CEO of Shinyoung Securities; and Lee Hyunseung, former CEO of KB Asset Management.

At the extraordinary general meeting held that day, CEOs or representatives of full member companies participated and exercised their voting rights electronically. Out of 399 full member companies, representatives from 203 companies attended. Voting rights were allocated as follows: 30% equally distributed among all full members, and 70% proportionally distributed according to each company's annual membership fee.

Hwang stated, "Rather than feeling joy at being elected, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility," adding, "I will strive to ensure the association can renew itself through humble communication and attentive listening."

In a meeting with reporters after the election, he said, "I want to create a market where large companies can strengthen their global competitiveness, and small and medium-sized companies can expand their participation in innovation, so that no sector feels left out and the market can develop in a balanced manner. I will ensure the financial investment industry has a strong presence and grows to contribute to the national economy."

He also mentioned that among the areas he is interested in, pensions are a key focus. "The default option was introduced about two years ago, and I plan to improve it, taking cues from the United States' 401(k) and Australia's superannuation systems," he explained. "I will also work on how to channel unproductive liquidity into the capital market, and ensure that direct and indirect investments by the public are balanced to promote long-term investment."

Hwang Sungyeop, the new chairman, was born in 1963. He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Business Administration and earned a Master of Science in Finance (MSF) from Illinois State University in the United States. He joined Shinyoung Securities in 1987 and has served as Head of Asset Management, Head of Corporate Business, Head of Investment Banking, and Executive Vice President, before becoming CEO in 2020.

The term for the 7th chairman will be three years, from January 2026 to December 2028.