Financial chiefs attract foreign investors

By Park Hyong-ki

Chairmen of the country's top three local financial groups have departed for overseas conferences and meetings in an effort to attract foreign investors and share insights on digital business, industry sources said Monday.

Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung

Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung has left for Tokyo, Japan and Hong Kong where he will hold investor relations meetings for three days until May 22.

The group said Sohn will meet executives from global sovereign wealth funds, asset management companies and pension funds.

"He will explain to them personally Woori's plans to boost its non-bank business portfolio through acquisitions," a Woori Financial spokesperson said.

This is part of efforts to increase Woori's foreign institutional ownership to around 35 percent, the group added.

Foreign investors hold a 30 percent stake in Woori Financial after it sold a 2.7 percent stake in the company in blocks to a group of unidentified foreign institutional investors last March, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX).

Woori Chairman Sohn will further arrange meetings with potential investors, possibly in New York this August, the group noted.

Last year, Sohn visited London, Stockholm, Hong Kong and Singapore before Woori turned into a holding company.

Woori Financial has recently acquired Tongyang Asset Management and ABL Global Asset Management, formerly Allianz Asset Management.

Shinhan Financial Chairman Cho Yong-byoung

Cho Yong-byoung, chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, the biggest financial holding company by net profit, has also left for an overseas conference to meet with potential investors, the company said.

He will be in Singapore to attend dbAccess Asia Conference 2019 hosted by Deutsche Bank until May 23.

Before, he was in Japan from May 11 to 14 to meet with Shinhan Financial's shareholders and investors there.

This followed Cho's visits to Toronto and San Francisco to meet with and attract potential institutional investors, including AGF Investment, Mackenzie Financial Corp. and Canadian International Investments in Toronto.

"The events have enabled the chairman to communicate Shinhan's future vision to potential investors," a Shinhan Financial spokesman said.

Foreign investors hold a 67.41 percent stake in Shinhan Financial, according to KRX.

Shinhan Financial is seeking to boost its non-banking businesses and generate 20 percent of its total net profit from its overseas ventures by 2020, up from the current 13 percent.

KB Financial Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, meanwhile, attended the Microsoft CEO Summit on May 17 in Seattle to exchange insights on digital transformation, according to the group.

The conference is held every year in May where executives from various industries share and discuss technology and convergence issues.

This was Yoon's third visit to the MS CEO Summit. He was first invited in 2017.

Foreign investors hold a 67.52 percent stake in KB Financial, according to the KRX.

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