Son Byung-hwan, Chairman of NongHyup Financial, "We Will Manage Both Financial Profits and Agricultural Support Roles"

Financial Holding Companies' Management Strategies This Year
(5) NH Nonghyup Financial Group
Focusing on Core Financial Company Principles
Securing Stable Profitability
Also Fulfilling Role as Profit Center to Support Rural Areas and Farmers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] "NongHyup Financial must simultaneously fulfill two missions: survival as a financial company and serving as a profit center for NongHyup."

Son Byung-hwan, who took office as chairman of NH NongHyup Financial on the 1st, is focusing on devising strategies to enhance the future value of NongHyup Financial rather than concentrating solely on this year's business performance. Since he has not yet held management strategy meetings with the executive team, no specific management strategies have been announced. However, Chairman Son already has a clear vision. He plans to develop strategies that enable NongHyup Financial to fulfill both its survival as a financial company and its role as a profit center for NongHyup.

Customer First... Role as a Profit Center

Chairman Son is determined to build a NongHyup Financial that stays true to the basics as a financial company. Rather than focusing on short-term results, he intends to establish a sustainable management system from a long-term perspective looking 10 years ahead, ensuring that NongHyup Financial is well-equipped to respond to crises and secure stable profitability. He also plans to strengthen the risk management system to enhance soundness and prioritize financial consumer protection to gain customer trust. Measures will be taken to improve product sales and after-sales management processes to prevent incomplete sales or financial accidents. With the Financial Consumer Protection Act set to be enforced in March, strengthening the consumer protection system is an anticipated development.

He will also focus on making NongHyup Financial a profit center that fulfills its role. Chairman Son recognizes that unlike other financial companies, NongHyup Financial has a special role in securing resources to support agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, and he believes it is important to maximize this role. To this end, he deems it necessary to secure profitability at a level that supports the entire NongHyup and contributes to farmers and society.

Accordingly, all NongHyup Financial affiliates will enhance productivity and efficiency, and the system will be improved so that employees can develop human competitiveness and continuously generate profits. Since there have been criticisms that the bank's share within the financial holding company is excessively large, balanced growth among affiliates is also a concern for Chairman Son. In his inaugural speech, he promised, "We will not only strengthen the core competencies of individual affiliates but also devise strategies to promote mutual cooperation and expand synergies with NongHyup affiliates and agricultural cooperatives."

In line with the growing trend of corporate social responsibility in financial companies, strategies will be developed to take the lead in social responsibility. First, services will be supplemented to ensure no neglect in providing financial services to the financially marginalized and socially vulnerable groups. An ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) management system will be established company-wide to expand investments in eco-friendly companies and promote environmentally conscious investments and business operations, such as reducing carbon emissions.

Chairman Son’s Strength: Leading Digital Finance

Reflecting the fact that digitalization has become a key agenda for all companies, strategies will be devised to solidify NongHyup Financial’s position as a leading digital financial company. NongHyup Financial plans to swiftly advance its ongoing digital financial innovations and build a competitive digital platform offering specialized services unique to NongHyup Financial. Additionally, it will introduce marketing processes based on big data and provide customized products and services that meet customer needs by integrating information from finance, economy, and distribution sectors. Partnerships with big tech and fintech companies will also be expanded to discover mutually beneficial business models utilizing open banking and MyData, and business areas will be broadened.

Building a digital platform unique to NongHyup Financial is an area where Chairman Son is confident. Recognized as a first-generation digital innovation expert in the domestic financial sector, he previously led digital innovation projects at NongHyup Bank, including the industry-first introduction of open API (Application Programming Interface), which forms the foundation of open banking. Consequently, it is widely expected that digitalization will be the area Chairman Son will most confidently and vigorously promote at NongHyup Financial.

Finally, since pioneering new markets through global expansion is a way to secure new revenue sources, NongHyup Financial plans to accelerate its global business once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. Among its affiliates, NongHyup Bank is at the center, establishing business strategies tailored to the characteristics of target countries by grouping them into the Asia Belt, advanced financial markets, and next-generation future markets according to business objectives and country traits. This year, NongHyup Bank plans to expand its network by converting offices in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, and New Delhi into branches, opening branches in Sydney and Hong Kong, and pursuing the establishment of a London office.

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