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(Seoul=Yonhap Infomax) Gyeong Eun Park – Korea Investment & Securities Co., a leading South Korean brokerage, is preparing to launch its inaugural Comprehensive Investment Management Account (IMA) product in early December, aiming to set a strong first impression in the market.
Since obtaining the country's first license for issuance notes in 2017, Korea Investment & Securities has grown the business into the largest in the industry over the past eight years, demonstrating robust capabilities in retail funding and asset management. The company now seeks to consolidate this expertise within its IMA offerings, emphasizing the product's advantages to investors.
“We have operated issuance notes at the largest scale and for the longest period in the industry,” said Woo Sang-hee, Head of IMA at Korea Investment & Securities, in an interview with Yonhap Infomax on the 24th. “This experience is not limited to a single division but represents the collective strength of the entire company.”
Woo highlighted that all divisions—including asset management, credit review, risk management, investment banking (IB), and project finance (PF)—have contributed to this track record. “We have sufficiently demonstrated our ability to offer a wide range of products to clients through the IMA platform,” he added.
Woo, who oversees the IMA business, has been at the core of the issuance note operation since its inception. With years of experience managing clients’ short-term funds with stability, he is considered the ideal leader to integrate this know-how into the IMA strategy.
Woo began his career in 2000 at Tongyang Investment & Securities, gaining experience across traditional IB, PF, and acquisition finance. He later managed advanced IB assets, including non-performing loans (NPL) and asset-backed lending (ABL), at Tongyang Life Insurance. Since 2017, he has led the Comprehensive Financial Management Division at Korea Investment & Securities, overseeing the initial rollout of issuance note products.
The IMA team at Korea Investment & Securities is confident in replicating the success of its issuance note business. “We have assembled a team of professionals—including lawyers, accountants, and CFAs—to ensure both product stability and marketability,” Woo said. “We have also brought in personnel from IB and the comprehensive finance division, ensuring deep business understanding.”
For its first IMA product, Korea Investment & Securities has prioritized “stability” as the core value. Given that this is a new, large-scale IB product with few global precedents, the company believes that robust structuring and stable returns are essential for market acceptance.
“The first impression is critical for building client recognition and ensuring a smooth market entry,” Woo noted. “We will provide stability as a company, and initially target clients who prefer moderate-risk returns.”
To lower the entry barrier for this unfamiliar product, Woo compared the IMA to variable insurance with principal protection. “Think of it as a principal-guaranteed variable insurance product,” he explained. “While it shares similarities with asset management products in terms of performance-based returns, the company guarantees the stability of the underlying assets, which sets it apart.”
Regarding future product strategy, Woo said, “The initial product will establish a stable structure, and as brand recognition grows, we will sequentially introduce products catering to clients seeking higher returns.”
He also outlined plans for project-based IMA products. Leveraging its top-tier IB capabilities and retail funding power, Korea Investment & Securities has made strategic investments in major corporate finance assets and actively introduced global IB products to domestic investors.
“For now, we are offering pre-set products to clients, but in the future, we can develop individual project-based IMAs,” Woo said. “For products specializing in venture capital, which typically have longer maturities, we can design separate offerings tailored to clients with matching risk profiles.”
gepark@yna.co.kr
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