Daewoo Securities to Triple Asia Employees to Expand Outside South Korea
Daewoo Securities to Triple Asia Employees Within Two Years
SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Daewoo Securities Co. employees work in the trading room of the company's headquarters in Seoul. The Seoul-based brokerage firm is bolstering its Asian operations to take advantage of growing fund inflows into the region.
Daewoo Securities Co. employees work in the trading room of the company's headquarters in Seoul. The Seoul-based brokerage firm is bolstering its Asian operations to take advantage of growing fund inflows into the region. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Daewoo Securities Co., South Korea’s second-largest brokerage by market value, plans to more than triple its workforce at its Asian units by 2013 as it seeks to expand outside its domestic market.
Daewoo is aiming to boost headcount for its Asian units including Hong Kong to about 120 from 35 currently, Chief Executive Officer Im Kee Young said in a July 7 interview. The new hires may include traders, analysts and personnel for its investment-banking business, he said. The Hong Kong unit currently has 21 employees.
The Seoul-based brokerage firm is bolstering its Asian operations to take advantage of growing fund inflows into the region. Developing economies in Asia may grow 8.4 percent in 2012, outpacing an expected expansion of 2.6 percent in advanced countries and 4.5 percent growth in world output, according to June estimates by the International Monetary Fund.
“Asia is the one that has greatest growth potential,” said Im, 58, who previously worked as vice chairman at Deutsche Bank AG’s Korea unit and country head of Salomon Brothers Inc. “We have to meet growing demand from the local investors.”
Shares of Daewoo Securities fell 1.8 percent to 19,250 won as of 9:31 a.m. Seoul time. The benchmark Kospi Index (KOSPI) lost 0.6 percent.
The South Korean brokerage, which also has units in New York and London, is preparing to establish a unit in Singapore in the second half, the CEO said. Daewoo also has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City.
Asian Acquisitions
The company is targeting to have 10 percent of its revenue overseas by 2015, double the current amount, he said. Daewoo Securities plans to continue increasing the paid-in capital of its Hong Kong unit “significantly” from $100 million currently as it seeks to bolster equity, bonds trading and underwriting, Im said.
The company is “open” to acquisitions in the mid- to long-term in Asia to bolster overseas growth, the Daewoo Securities CEO said, declining to comment further. He also declined to comment directly on a possible merger with Woori Investment & Securities Co., flagged by Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok Dong in an April 5 interview as “one of the options” to strengthen securities companies.
Such a move might spark industry consolidation and help create investment banks that can provide financing for South Korean companies competing for development projects abroad, Kim said at the time.
“A big vessel can better battle a tougher storm,” Im said. “It’s necessary to be a big, dominant domestic player to be successful overseas. We’ll be prepared for that,” he said, without being specific.
Daewoo Securities is joining rivals in seeking to expand outside their home country. Samsung Securities Co., the brokerage unit of the nation’s largest family-run conglomerate, said in February it plans to hire as many as 20 people in Hong Kong this year. Mirae Asset Securities Co., the first South Korean brokerage to expand into Brazil, said on July 1 it plans to increase its workforce in the South American nation by 40 percent within a year to boost market share.
To contact the reporters on this story: Seonjin Cha in Seoul at scha2@bloomberg.net Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net
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