Bae Jaekyu Officially Takes Office as CEO of Han투운용... Why Was He in Nominee Status for 49 Days?

Former Samsung Asset Management Vice President Bae Jaegyu
Declines Advisory Position, Moves to New Company
Unusual Transfer Causes Delays in Follow-up and Appointment

Bae Jae-gyu, CEO of Korea Investment Trust Management, officially took office through an online inauguration ceremony on the 3rd.

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] Former Samsung Asset Management Vice President Bae Jaekyu, who spent 49 days as a nominee, officially took office as CEO of Korea Investment Management on the 3rd.

The delay in Bae's official inauguration is attributed to the unusual transfer of former Vice President Bae and the subsequent delayed handling by Samsung Asset Management. At the end of last year, following Samsung Electronics, a generational change wave swept through financial affiliates under the 'New Samsung' policy. Accordingly, former Samsung Asset Management CEO Shim Jonggeuk and former Vice President Bae were scheduled to step down as advisors. Samsung decided this considering Bae's contributions over the years.

However, the situation became complicated when former Vice President Bae gave up the advisory position and decided to take the CEO position at Korea Investment Management. His transfer itself was unusual, and the fact became public outside first, causing the personnel plan to be twisted. Industry sources say that Samsung Asset Management took time to report this unusual situation to higher-ups and to handle severance pay and other post-retirement matters, which naturally delayed his inauguration. Accordingly, the personnel appointment for former Vice President Bae, who was omitted from the December 17 regular executive personnel at Korea Financial Group last year, was officially made only on this day.

Samsung Asset Management explained, "Regarding retirement under the salary contract, it is specified that procedures such as confidentiality and handover require a period of 1 to 2 months, so the delay was not due to procedural delays or other reasons."

In any case, former Vice President Bae, who remained a 'nominee' for over a month, has been commuting to Korea Investment Management since last month. This is a step toward successfully performing his first CEO role in life. He is known to have spent busy days receiving work reports from department heads and meeting experts.

With Bae's official inauguration as CEO, Korea Investment Management expects to expand the ETF market, which has been almost barren territory. Bae opened the ETF era by launching Korea's first Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) at Samsung Asset Management and monopolized the market through a first-mover advantage.

However, the industry views Bae's transformation as the key to the success of his transfer. Last year, Samsung Asset Management (42.55%) lost its oligopoly position due to the theme ETF craze. While Mirae Asset Global Investments (35.85%) raised its market share by proactively launching various theme ETFs, Samsung failed to respond effectively.

At the inauguration ceremony, CEO Bae said, "For sustainable growth, we must establish a foundation to become not just a Big Company but a Great Company," adding, "Together with executives and employees, we will build a company that thoroughly pursues customer value, is transparent and open, and pursues change and innovation."

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