[K-INVESTORS]⑤ Chairman Choi Hyun-man: "Managing Growth Phase Bubbles Well Is a Leader's Role"

Responsibility Is More Important Than Ability in Management and Organization
Still a Hands-On Salesperson... "The Biggest Sales Must Be Done by Me, the Chairman"
"The Commonality of Leadership and Management Is Breath Control"

Editor's NoteThe Korean capital market is more turbulent than ever, driven by greed and selfishness. Manipulations and unfair practices are rampant. However, many investors have carved out their own investment worlds and emerged as role models for individual investors, having endured everything from the Asian financial crisis, the dot-com bubble, the global financial crisis, to COVID-19. Through meetings with these investors, we aim to convey the value of money through their war-like stories in the capital market, their philosophies, failures, and successes. Starting now, we bring you stories from experts across various fields, including value investing and activism, top domestic pension fund CIOs who have become global 'big players,' leaders of private equity and asset management firms, and CEOs of financial companies.

Chairman Choi Hyun-man of Mirae Asset Securities is delivering a congratulatory speech at the 2023 Asia Economy Golden Age Forum held at the Bankers Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

"What is the role of the capital market? What is the role of artificial intelligence? Listening to what Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, says, there are many points for those of us in the capital market to reconsider. It seems he has been thinking about the concept of universal basic income since the early days of founding. The idea is to provide basic income to people who lose jobs due to AI. He holds a management philosophy that money earned through technology should be returned to society once it exceeds a certain amount. Fundamentally, I believe a society where the well-educated, the wealthy, and the healthy lead those who are weaker is the cornerstone of capitalism and liberal democracy."

The topic raised by Choi Hyun-man, Chairman of Mirae Asset Securities, who has helped clients with investments and asset formation in the capital market for over 30 years, was somewhat unexpected. It differed from the expectation that he would preach the infinite competition and survival of the fittest strategy in the capital market.

"When I was studying in the U.S. in 1993, a marketing professor said something like this: If you are going to handle money, go to Wall Street during lunch. There, Mercedes-Benz cars line the streets, and it looks really nice. Sitting there now, the view would be great. But in the industry you will work in, many people will commit suicide. I wrote that down in my notebook. Even now, I reflect on and remember that professor's words."

Diversification of Price, Assets, and People is Important

In that regard, Chairman Choi emphasizes three types of diversification to his employees: price, assets, and people. Especially in securities, which assist clients' investments, he pays close attention when hiring people.

"The first is price diversification, meaning diversification of timing. As everyone knows, buying and selling at different times is key. Even experts cannot perfectly predict the timing of buying and selling like fortune-tellers. So, timing diversification is necessary. The second is product diversification, meaning to allocate across different asset classes. The third, which is important, is diversification of human risk. This relates to ethics. As I mentioned earlier, the capital market is very vulnerable to speculative psychology and temptation. When hiring, I fundamentally look at character. Having been in this industry for a long time, I find that people with expert backgrounds often show arrogance beyond confidence when you talk to them. Such people, no matter how skilled, I’m sorry, but I cannot work with them."

Chairman Choi first entered the securities industry in 1989 by joining Hanshin Securities. He believed that diligence was the only thing to compete with others. He arrived at work every day at 5 a.m., compiling reports summarizing the core contents of all securities firms in Yeouido and distributing them to companies. When he was branch manager of the Seocho branch, he famously raised the branch from 7th place in internal sales performance to 2nd place within the company and 15th nationwide in about two years.

In 1997, Chairman Choi joined the founding of Mirae Asset at the invitation of Park Hyun-joo, the group's global strategist (GSO) and chairman. They had met when Choi was an assistant manager and Park was a manager, recognizing each other. It was a venture at the start. Choi described, "Mirae Asset was also a startup at first." Indeed, it was true. Now a mega financial group with operating revenue of 20 trillion won, 20 years ago Mirae Asset was Korea's first asset management company and a pioneer in the capital market.

"Our company was once a venture, and I was the CEO of a startup. Starting as an employee and becoming chairman is a great honor (laughs). In the early days, I appeared on broadcasts a lot to promote the company. Even then, there were many prestigious companies, but Mirae Asset was neither a securities firm nor an asset management company, yet the broadcasters kindly kept inviting me. They said the company was unknown, fresh, and pure. I never made a broadcasting mistake for a year, so later they even let me handle live market updates on the closing news and invited me to late-night debates. I went everywhere and worked hard. That experience still helps me in lectures, seminars, and sales today."

"Mirae Asset Was Also a Startup at First"

At the time of founding, Chairman Choi served as CEO of Mirae Asset Asset Management, Korea's first asset management company, leading it for two years. In 1999, he became CEO of Mirae Asset Venture Capital. When Mirae Asset Securities, which was Park Hyun-joo's long-cherished goal, launched in December of that year, he became its first CEO. He led Mirae Asset Securities' IPO in 2005 and started overseas business by establishing a corporation in Hong Kong in 2007. In 2012, he was promoted to Senior Vice Chairman of Mirae Asset Financial Group, becoming the undisputed second-in-command. He moved to Mirae Asset Life Insurance to greatly expand the pension business and successfully completed the IPO that had been underway since 2009. In 2016, he returned as CEO of Mirae Asset Securities, overseeing the integration of Daewoo Securities and Mirae Asset Securities. Park Hyun-joo chose Chairman Choi as the right person to quickly achieve a chemical merger of the two companies.

July 8, 2015, Future Asset Life Insurance's new listing ceremony on the KOSPI market. From the left, Yoon Yong-am, CEO of Samsung Securities at the time; Kang Ho-gap, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Medium-sized Enterprises; Choi Kyung-soo, Chairman of the Korea Exchange; Choi Hyun-man, Senior Vice Chairman of Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co., Ltd.; Lee Soo-chang, Chairman of the Life Insurance Association; Kim Won-dae, Head of the KOSPI Market Division at the Korea Exchange; Kim Jin-gyu, Vice Chairman of the Listed Companies Association.

When Park Hyun-joo became Chairman of Mirae Asset Securities Hong Kong in 2018, he gave his office to Chairman Choi. To the half-joking question, "How can a group chairman give up his own office?" Chairman Choi replied, "We trust each other."

"He asked me to start the company when I had no money. From then until now, our mutual trust has brought us this far. Now that I am chairman, I consider it a great honor as a capital market man to fulfill my role."

He walks up to his office on the 36th floor, rarely using the elevator. He said he enjoys the fun of walking up the stairs alone.

"Do you know what leadership and exercise have in common? It's breathing. In any exercise, breathing is important. If you breathe according to the rhythm, you can do any exercise. Swimming, yoga, hiking?all the same. When hiking, you climb uphill. People, regardless of age or gender, often rush up energetically. Then they quickly get tired and pant. When I hike, I start at the front. When people get tired, I move to the back, pushing from behind. Then I go forward again, then back again. Doing this, everyone reaches the summit together. This requires breathing. It's the same at work. Everything is about controlling the rhythm."

Chairman Choi is known in the securities industry as a hands-on sales expert.

"I say I am not a leader but a salesperson. I believe the biggest sales must be done by the chairman himself. When people hear 'sales,' they often think lightly. But to be good at sales, you must plan well. Without planned sales, there can be no strategy in organizational management. With good planning, you can stretch 24 hours into 48 hours. Another thing I want to say is that no matter how outstanding an individual is, they cannot beat an organization. Work is not done alone. In business, organized power exerts great influence."

"Growth is a Process of Bubble Accumulation"

Mirae Asset Securities achieved the first securities firm operating profit of 1 trillion won (in 2020), won the ESG management triple crown, and as of the end of May 2023, holds 11.2 trillion won in equity capital, growing into Korea's largest securities firm. It is developing into a globally competitive investment bank in all aspects. Chairman Choi views growth as, frankly, a process of bubble accumulation. Managing this bubble is the most important task for a manager and leader for customers and team members.

Mirae Asset Daewoo CEO and Vice Chairman Choi Hyun-man is conducting a street campaign at the Yeoksam Station intersection. Photo by Mirae Asset Daewoo

"We exist for our customers. We look at various leading indicators that affect the real economy six months later and are reflected in stock indices beforehand. Our mission is to analyze these well and explain them to customers. We must be faithful to this mission, not approach customers emotionally by saying 'you'll regret it if you don't buy now' when explaining specific stocks. Once you become number one in the industry, it's easy to get conceited. That's also a mental bubble. We must look at customers more humbly. I've been CEO for 27 years now. Is it because I am exceptionally capable? Absolutely not. It's responsibility over ability. I am not someone who excels in sales, asset management, marketing, or structuring. I think this way: employees work freely, and whatever the outcome, they think, 'Ah, since that person is chairman, he takes responsibility.' That's my role."

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