[Interview] Retail Powerhouse Kiwoom Moves to "Easy Wealth Management"... "Embedding AI Across the App"

"We are trying to implement the AI engine and Kiwoom Securities' wealth management functions as one. Our goal is to embed AI inside the application (app) so that customers can receive AI support right next to them while they handle their work."

Kim Jungbeom, Head of Asset Management Division (Executive Director) at Kiwoom Securities, who has come to oversee the firm's overall wealth management operations, said in a recent interview with The Asia Business Daily, "We aim to establish a process that matches customers with asset management methods suited to their preferences through a comprehensive digital wealth management service."

As of January this year, Kiwoom Securities expanded and reorganized its former Wealth Management (WM) Division's Asset Management Headquarters into a separate "Asset Management Division." The ambition is to take a step forward from being a brokerage-based retail powerhouse into the wealth management arena.

Kim Jeongbeom, Head of Wealth Management (Managing Director) at Kiwoom Securities, was interviewed at the company's Yeouido headquarters on the 6th.

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In particular, the company plans to provide customer-friendly wealth management services through its "Wealth Management Quantum Jump Project." First, it will embed AI into the app so that customers can immediately utilize AI when using services. Executive Director Kim said, "Think of it as having that kind of function built into Kiwoom Securities' fund menu, just like how a search box pops up as soon as you enter ChatGPT," adding, "Previously, customers had to use a separate chatbot, but this time we plan to integrate the 'search' function available for most financial products with AI." According to Executive Director Kim, even customers who have the desire to invest but do not know much about investment products will be able to be matched with suitable products by using the AI features.

The company will also significantly enhance convenience related to Individual Savings Accounts (ISA), which are rapidly attracting customers thanks to tax-saving benefits. Executive Director Kim said, "What customers are curious about are things like which portions are tax-exempt so far and how much tax-exempt amount remains, but we have not been able to provide such information," and added, "Taking customer convenience into account, we will completely overhaul the existing app content so that we can reinforce information related to tax exemption and tax savings."

The core wealth management service of retirement pensions is also being prepared with a target launch in June. True to its reputation as a "non-face-to-face powerhouse," the company plans to base its retirement pension services on non-face-to-face channels as well. Executive Director Kim said, "Other firms usually assign retirement pension managers to branches to provide management, but we plan to structure our app so that all work can be done entirely non-face-to-face." He went on to emphasize, "The biggest strength is that, within Kiwoom's 'Hero' HTS and MTS systems, which are used by the largest number of customers in Korea, retirement pensions can be used just like ordinary brokerage accounts."

In the bond sector, the company plans to introduce a "Corporate Bond Interest Auto-Investment Service." The idea stems from the fact that many customers do not immediately withdraw their bond interest when it is paid. Executive Director Kim explained, "More than half of our customers simply leave the interest in their accounts for several days after it comes in. I suspect they are unable to find suitable investment destinations," adding, "Based on the customer data Kiwoom holds, we will enable customers to accumulate their corporate bond interest into stocks, ETFs, or portfolios."

Executive Director Kim has been involved in the overall innovation of the securities industry. During his tenure at Daewoo Securities, he was in charge of "Dial-Van," the industry's first online-only PC trading program, and he also launched the industry's first "Robo-Advisor (RA) Wrap" product.

He plans to leverage this experience to further innovate Kiwoom's robo-advisory services as well. He said, "All of Kiwoom's RA products have been passive-type so far, but we plan to strengthen the design for active-type and equity-type products," adding, "We are also preparing a model that can be comprehensively applied to pensions, in line with the introduction of retirement pensions."

Regarding the technological transformation that securities firms and the wealth management sector should pursue going forward, he stressed "AI." Executive Director Kim said, "Customers are already used to living with AI, and I believe finance should be the same," and continued, "AI engines with a quality comparable to that of real human private bankers (PBs) will soon become a reality. We also need to be bold."

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