KB Kookmin Bank Opens 20 Trillion KRW Era in IB Division Investment and Financing

Interview with Woo Sang-hyun, Deputy Head of CIB Customer Group
New Investments of 10 Trillion This Year
100 Trillion ESG Target by 2030

Sanghyun Woo, Executive Vice President of KB Kookmin Bank CIB Customer Group and Vice President of KB Securities IB Division

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] KB Kookmin Bank will execute new investments totaling 1 trillion KRW in the IB sector this year.

Woo Sang-hyun, Vice President of KB Kookmin Bank's CIB Customer Group and Vice President of KB Securities' IB Division, recently told Asia Economy, "The bank plans to independently invest 1 trillion KRW in the IB business." KB Kookmin Bank's IB division's investment and loan assets amount to 19.6 trillion KRW, and with this year's new investments, it will surpass 20 trillion KRW. Vice President Woo stated, "We will proceed with investments in various fields such as real estate, infrastructure, alternative investments (AI), and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) based on diversified investments," adding, "We will place more emphasis on indirect investments rather than direct investments."

At the end of last year, they met with top global private equity (PE) firms in the U.S. to create excellent investment opportunities combining investments and loans. He said, "We made blind fund investments ranging from 20 billion to 30 billion KRW each in the world's top three private equity firms: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Carlyle, and Blackstone." When conducting large-scale M&A, in addition to equity capital, KB plans to participate in mega deals by securing third-party capital through a combined investment and loan approach. Direct participation in big deals carries high risk, but through indirect participation, they aim to reduce risk while creating many good opportunities.

Vice President Woo also stated, "This year, we plan to significantly increase ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investment scale by consolidating the capabilities of affiliates such as banks, securities, cards, and insurance." KB Financial Group has set a strategic goal for all affiliates to invest a total of 100 trillion KRW in ESG investments and loans by 2030. As of the end of 2021, cumulative performance reached 21 trillion KRW. They also aim to handle 10 trillion KRW in K-New Deal investments by 2025 in sectors such as secondary batteries, bio, internet, and gaming. The cumulative performance as of the end of 2021 was 7 trillion KRW. They have also established a mid- to long-term plan to invest 10 trillion KRW in the hydrogen economy linked to ESG investments by 2030.

As the scale of managed assets grows, KB Kookmin Bank plans to strengthen IB personnel and risk management. Vice President Woo said, "We will flexibly expand personnel through on-demand recruitment and activate personnel exchanges within KB." Furthermore, he emphasized, "We will establish a CIB asset total management system connecting dedicated organizations from front (investment) to middle (risk management) to back (support) to build a self-compliance system through meticulous risk management from deal entry to exit."

Meanwhile, despite difficulties in advancing overseas projects due to COVID-19, KB Kookmin Bank continues to steadily expand its global IB domain focusing on high-quality real assets such as co-arranging a Canadian natural gas pipeline and secured loans for Google's Silicon Valley office in the U.S. Following the establishment of IB units in Hong Kong in 2017, New York and London in 2019, the newly opened Singapore branch in January will also be utilized as an IB hub for the Asia-Pacific region.

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