Hana chief aims to double overseas share of profits

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo (right) talks at the "Invest K-finance: Singapore IR 2023" event in Singapore on Tuesday, with Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Bok-hyun in attendance. (Hana Financial Group)

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo on Tuesday said that the group aims to increase its profit from overseas operations to around 40 percent of the total in the medium to long term at the "Invest K-finance: Singapore IR 2023" event in Singapore.

To reach this goal, Ham said the group will continue to use its current strategy of making strategic investments in minority stakes in overseas financial institutions.

“This approach provides the advantage of minimizing financial burdens and allowing our group to flexibly utilize our infrastructure while managing risks,” Ham explained.

In 2022, the banking group's net profit from overseas markets accounted for 19.5 percent of the total.

The event was organized jointly by the Financial Supervisory Service and six Korean financial firms to showcase the strength of Korea’s financial industry and its commitment to optimizing the investment climate for global investors.

Ham discussed how big tech companies entering the financial products market could lead to changes in the industry and how Hana Financial Group is preparing to respond.

“Hana Financial Group plans to respond to the possible changes with a two-track strategy of upgrading our representative mobile app, Hana One Q, into a comprehensive asset management app and also expanding our users through various partnerships with big tech firms’ platforms.”

Hana Financial Group held individual meetings with major investors including global asset management firm Capital Group following the event Tuesday afternoon as well. They talked about topics such as financial soundness and shareholder return policy.

While staying in Singapore, Chairman Ham and Lee Bok-hyun, chief of the FSS, had a meeting with Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings and a renowned investment specialist, on Wednesday morning.

They mainly discussed the global economic outlook, the current situation of the Korean economy and the financial industry.

During the meeting, Rogers expressed his interest in emerging Korean industries such as the green hydrogen global hub establishment plan on Jeju Island, and Ham emphasized Hana Financial Group's goal of becoming the top financial firm in Asia.

“To expand our global presence, we established an asset management firm in Singapore in July 2021 and have been continuously expanding our core business areas such as investment banking and asset management,” Ham said.

From left: Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Bok-hyun, American investor Jim Rogers and Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo pose for a photo after a meeting in Singapore (Hana Financial Group)

By Song Seung-hyun(ssh@heraldcorp.com)