IBK Investment & Securities names Choi Gwang-jin as new CEO to deepen bank-brokerage synergy

IBK Investment & Securities said Tuesday it held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and board meeting, at which it appointed Executive Vice President Choi Gwang-jin as its new president and CEO.

Born in 1965, Choi graduated from Busanjin High School and Korea University with a degree in economics before earning an MBA from the University of Iowa.

He joined Industrial Bank of Korea in 1992 and went on to hold a series of senior roles, including head of strategic planning, branch manager in Hanoi, head of investment banking, head of the western regional headquarters, and head of the corporate and investment banking (CIB) group. He subsequently served as chief operating officer at IBK Investment & Securities, where he drove bank-brokerage synergy initiatives and led the firm's strategy of specializing in services for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The company said it intends to use the new appointment as an opportunity to place customer trust at the forefront of its operations, strengthen support for small and medium-sized enterprises and venture companies, and sharpen its competitive edge through a consumer-centered management approach.

In his inaugural address, Choi said the firm would "actively contribute to financing for small and medium-sized enterprises through productive finance, as the only policy-affiliated brokerage in the country and a member of the IBK Financial Group." He added, "We will work to make IBK Investment & Securities a company that grows together with its customers, businesses, the government and shareholders — built on their trust."

IBK Investment & Securities posted a net profit for the period of 13.7 billion won ($8.89 million) in the first quarter of this year, up 14.2 percent from the same period last year. The improvement was driven by higher brokerage commissions on the back of increased trading volume in the domestic stock market, as well as growth in the wealth management segment. Total assets, excluding trust assets, stood at 12.45 trillion won as of the end of March, up 19.7 percent — about 2.05 trillion won — from the end of last year.