[SAFF 2020] "Post-COVID Asset Management to Grow Centered on Transparent and Trustworthy Non-Face-to-Face Services"

Jung In-young, CEO of December & Company Asset Management

The "2020 Seoul Asia Financial Forum (SAFF 2020)" hosted by Asia Economy was held on the 20th at the Western Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Jeong In-young, CEO of December & Company Asset Management, is giving a lecture on asset management in the pandemic era. This event, held under the theme "Post-COVID, Financial Market Stabilization Measures," aimed to deeply explore innovative strategies to overcome uncertainties in the era of Big Blur in finance and capital markets. This year, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of speakers and participants, the event was conducted via online live streaming. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] “After COVID-19, investments will gradually shift from individuals directly worrying about their investments to spending that time on themselves while conducting indirect investments through non-face-to-face methods.”

Jung In-young, CEO of December & Company Asset Management, stated at the '2020 Seoul Asia Financial Forum (SAFF 2020)' held on the 20th at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Sogong-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, in a lecture titled ‘Asset Management in the Pandemic Era,’ that "the asset management methods will change in the post-COVID-19 era."

CEO Jung emphasized that to understand the direction of change in asset management methods in the post-COVID-19 era, one must look at the situations before and after the pandemic. He pointed out that before COVID-19, distrust in existing investment and asset management forms was growing due to incidents such as principal losses in derivative-linked funds (DLF) tied to overseas interest rates and the suspension of fund redemptions by Lime Asset Management.

CEO Jung explained, “The DLF incident served as a trigger for growing distrust toward sales companies, and the Lime Asset Management incident increased distrust toward asset management companies,” adding, “Following consecutive issues of incomplete sales, both private equity funds and public funds lost investors’ trust, and their sales balances sharply declined.”

Disappointment among individual investors toward indirect investments led to the expansion of direct investments known as the ‘Donghak Ant Movement.’ In March, as the stock market plummeted due to COVID-19, individual investors, hopeful for a rebound, rushed into the market. Initially limited to domestic stock trading, individual investors are gradually expanding their investment scope to include overseas stock trading.

CEO Jung said, “The influx of individual investors into the stock market itself is positive, but directly investing in overseas stocks increases investment fatigue,” and predicted, “If the market does not experience a 'V'-shaped recovery and the current sluggish situation continues, individual investors’ investment patterns are likely to change.”

CEO Jung cited ‘social distancing’ and government disaster relief funds as events that reinforced his confidence in changes to individual investors’ asset management methods. He stated, “Many people realized through social distancing that they can efficiently accomplish more tasks non-face-to-face than expected, and through spending disaster relief funds, they confirmed expenditures not only on essentials but also on leisure and personal expenses,” emphasizing that these experiences led to the realization that all decisions ultimately revolve around the ‘precious self.’

According to CEO Jung, this realization applies equally to asset management. People prefer to invest their time in what they value, such as leisure, and entrust areas where they lack expertise, like asset management, to transparent and trustworthy professionals.

He said, “After experiencing a series of incidents, clients sought new trusted means to make investment decisions on their behalf, and in this process, the perception of non-face-to-face services shifted from being merely convenient to being trustworthy,” adding, “In the future, financial investment services will grow centered on transparent, reliable, and convenient non-face-to-face services.”

Founded in 2013, December & Company Asset Management is one of Korea’s leading robo-advisor asset management firms and launched ‘Fint,’ a customized non-face-to-face discretionary investment service for individual investors, last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.