Choi Hee-moon, Vice Chairman of Meritz Securities, "Became the Longest-Serving CEO"... Successfully Reappointed for the 4th Term

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Choi Hee-moon, Vice Chairman of Meritz Securities, has secured the longest-serving CEO record in the industry.

Meritz Securities held its 50th regular shareholders' meeting on the 17th at the International Finance Center (IFC) in Yeouido, Seoul, and approved Vice Chairman Choi's reappointment. With the confirmation of this agenda, Vice Chairman Choi's term has been extended until March 2025. Since taking office as CEO of Meritz Securities in 2010 (promoted to Vice Chairman in January 2018), he has succeeded in his fourth reappointment.

With Vice Chairman Choi's successful reappointment, the longest-serving record of former Kyobo Securities President Kim Hae-jun (13 years in office, 2008?2021) has been broken.

The driving force behind Vice Chairman Choi's longest-serving CEO record is the record-breaking performance. Meritz Securities achieved its highest-ever performance in 2021. On a consolidated basis, operating profit was 948.9 billion KRW, and net profit was 782.9 billion KRW. Compared to 2020, operating profit increased by 14.6%, and net profit rose by 38.5%. Pre-tax profit also exceeded 1 trillion KRW for the first time ever. Return on equity (ROE) was also remarkable, with a 15.5% ROE in 2021. It recorded double-digit ROE for eight consecutive years. Especially after Choi became CEO in February 2010, the scale of equity capital grew rapidly. Equity capital, which was 529.5 billion KRW at the end of 2009, grew more than tenfold over 12 years.

The background of the strong performance is corporate finance (IB) competitiveness. Meritz Securities particularly stands out in real estate project financing (PF). Most of the IB division's profits and losses were composed of real estate PF underwriting and debt guarantee fees. Last year, large-scale deals such as the Magok MICE complex and the Itaewon UN Command site were successfully completed. Notably, the Magok MICE complex project financing (PF) involved 43 domestic financial institutions, with a scale reaching 2.5 trillion KRW. This is the largest-scale real estate PF case undertaken by the domestic securities industry.

Vice Chairman Choi is highly regarded for his market insight. He regularly holds meetings once or twice a week to focus on deals reported from each business division. Before the meetings, he reviews more than ten related agenda items in advance, and is known for his exceptional ability to pinpoint detailed specifics that surprise the staff during the meetings.

He is also famous for his talent-centered management philosophy. A Meritz Securities official said, “Thanks to Vice Chairman Choi’s management philosophy, which respects talent and creates a corporate culture where capable professionals want to work together and can focus solely on their tasks, the company has become a place where talented people want to work.”

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Choi has been leading Meritz Securities since February 2010 after serving as Vice President of Meritz Securities in October 2009. He previously held positions such as Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, Director at CSFB (Credit Suisse Boston), and Vice President at Bankers Trust.

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