[Asia Exclusive] "No Bloody Competition for Customers... Focusing on New Market Targeting MZ Generation"

Park Jaemin, CEO of Toss Securities
Unlimited Growth Potential of MZ Generation
No Entry into IB·ECM... Focused on Retail
"Lowering Investment Barriers and Creating a Space for Information Sharing"

Park Jae-min, CEO of Toss Securities, is explaining the business strategy in an interview with Asia Economy at the Toss headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd.

[Interview = Jeon Pil-su, Head of Capital Markets Department at Asia Economy, Summary = Reporter Lee Min-woo] "We will not compete to steal customers from existing securities firms. There is enough chance of success by targeting only the new customers who will increase in the future."

Park Jae-min, CEO of Toss Securities, expressed this confidence during a meeting with Asia Economy at Toss Securities headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 2nd. His plan is not to engage in a destructive competition over existing securities firms and their established customers, but to grow together in a growing new market.

Growing New Market Is Enough

The target customers are beginners in their 20s and 30s, the MZ generation (born between 1980 and early 2000s). CEO Park emphasized, "In the past, if you saved well, you could grow assets through interest, and there was a perception that stock investment was difficult and risky. However, in this low-interest-rate era, a consensus has formed that investment is necessary for everyone, as without investment, it is impossible not only to grow assets but also to protect them."

This growth trend is also proven by numbers. According to the Korea Securities Depository, as of the end of last year, the number of individual stock owners reached 9.14 million after removing duplicate accounts. This is a 49% surge compared to 6.14 million the previous year. Especially, investors aged 30 or younger increased significantly, reaching 3.16 million at the end of last year, nearly doubling from 1.61 million the previous year. Although those aged 40 and above still account for more than half (about 5.37 million), their proportion is decreasing.

However, since stock trading commissions are virtually the only source of revenue for Toss Securities, there are concerns that improving performance solely with the 20s and 30s generation, who tend to invest smaller amounts, may be difficult. Regarding this, CEO Park believes there is still enough chance of success because the market is growing. He said, "At the press conference earlier this year, we announced that we would reach the break-even point (BEP) within three years (by 2024). This is because although the assets of MZ generation customers are not large, they tend to increase over time. Not only the number of customers but also their assets are growing together, so if we continuously provide the services customers want, it should be possible."

Another strength is that Toss Securities’ Mobile Trading System (MTS) is included in the financial platform ‘Toss’ application operated by its parent company Viva Republica. If they can fully attract the MZ generation members, who account for about half of the 20 million Toss members, rapid growth in a short period is possible.

"We Don’t Do IB/ECM... Even If We Grow, We Will Focus Only on Retail"

Regardless of the retail division getting on track, CEO Park drew a clear line by stating that they will not enter corporate finance (IB) or equity capital markets (ECM) sectors, which existing securities firms have recently been focusing on. This is based on the judgment that sufficient demand can be created even in the retail market. Park explained, "Toss Securities is rooted in Toss and has strengths in mobile. Even if we enter IB or ECM fields immediately, it would be difficult to secure competitiveness, and there are many elements to innovate in the retail market."

To this end, Toss Securities emphasized two pillars: providing investment information and offering a space for information exchange. First, they focused on providing objective information more easily and conveniently. In the past, securities firm sales staff helped individual customers grow into investors, so it depended on the skills of individual employees. In contrast, Toss Securities timely delivers disclosures and earnings directly to mobile devices, fitting the mobile era. CEO Park explained, "Previously, securities researchers provided in-depth information to advanced investors and institutional investors, so it was difficult and had high entry barriers for beginner investors. It was also hard to check on mobile because it was PC-based. We designed it to fit mobile and adjust the content level to investors so they can grow together."

They also emphasized information exchange among investors. In the past, investors relied on branch staff or acquaintances, but Toss Securities plans to provide a space where customers can exchange opinions healthily. Unlike existing online stock discussion boards, they plan to distinguish between shareholders and non-shareholders and appropriately manage the space by restricting indiscriminate criticism and advertisements. Activating this will enable continuous and stable customer inflow in the future.

Based on this, they plan to gradually expand the business area of the retail division. First, they will start overseas stock trading from the second half of this year. Then, early next year, they are preparing an asset management service based on artificial intelligence (AI) robo-advisors. CEO Park said, "It is like replacing private bankers (PB) of existing securities firms with AI," and added, "We are also considering entering fields such as individual retirement pensions (IRP) in the future."

Toss Securities Is a Technology Company... Quick Response and Culture Are Its Greatest Strengths

The confidence comes from the pride of being a technology company. As the largest fintech (finance + technology) company in the industry, Toss Securities can quickly adapt based on technology. CEO Park said, "Existing securities firms sometimes outsource their MTS, and usually once updated, it is hard to fix, causing inconvenience to customers. We have in-house development capabilities with 60-70% of our staff being developers, so we handle all development ourselves and respond quickly to customer demands."

The addition of candlestick charts is a representative example of quick response. At the launch of Toss Securities’ MTS, unlike existing securities firms, they boldly excluded candlestick charts and moving averages. They removed complex information and emphasized a simple and intuitive user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) tailored to beginner stock investors. However, as user demand grew, they added candlestick charts starting last month. They changed the system to allow switching chart types while maintaining the existing UX. They also enhanced indicators such as Return on Equity (ROE), Price-to-Earnings Ratio (PER), and Price-to-Book Ratio (PBR) for easy checking.

CEO Park cited this culture of rapid improvement as Toss Securities’ greatest strength. He said, "People who want to create impactful, customer-oriented services gather and find answers through healthy discussions. The answer is not from me but from customers, so we receive feedback, improve, create data, and have a self-correcting culture."

This aligns with CEO Park’s personal dream of changing people’s lives based on IT. He said, "Since childhood, I wanted to create services that impact life based on computers, so I came through Coupang and Toss to securities. I want to contribute not only to optimizing money-making but also to improving customers’ investments and lives in the securities industry."

Profile of Park Jae-min, CEO of Toss Securities

▲ Born in 1981 ▲ Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) ▲ MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University ▲ 2006?2009 Consultant at Samil PwC Consulting ▲ 2011?2014 Team Leader at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) ▲ 2014?2017 Head of Marketplace Division at Coupang ▲ 2017?2019 Head of Business at Viva Republica (Toss) ▲ 2019?Present CEO of Toss Securities

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