Korean financial firms launch global IR blitz to woo foreign capital  

Chiefs of South Korea’s major financial groups – Shinhan, Woori and iM – are ramping up global investor outreach with new shareholder value enhancement measures, aligning with a government-led corporate value-up program.

According to sources in the investment banking industry on Tuesday, Jin Ok-dong, chairman and chief executive of Shinhan Financial Group Co., has been meeting with institutional investors in Europe since Sunday.

His itinerary includes the UK, Germany and Poland, where he is briefing global investors on the leading Korean financial group’s growth roadmap and shareholder return policies.

The trip is part of a broader investor relations campaign Jin has led since taking office in March 2023. Just a month into his role, he met investors in Japan, followed by visits to the US, Europe and Hong Kong to deepen institutional ties.  

Hwang Byung-woo, chairman and CEO of iM Financial Group Co., is also on his first US IR tour in nearly a year, visiting New York, Chicago and Boston to discuss the regional financial service provider’s performance and value enhancement measures.

His last overseas IR session was held in Hong Kong and Singapore last October, where he focused on plans to improve shareholder value.

iM Financial Group, formerly DGB Financial Group, is based in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province.

The two chiefs are pushing global outreach at a time when both financial firms have headroom under Korea’s 60% foreign ownership cap on local financial institutions.

Overseas investors currently hold 58.2% of Shinhan Financial’s shares, or around 288.6 million shares, while iM’s offshore ownership stands at 42.95%, or 71.5 million shares.

BlackRock Inc. and UK-based Aberdeen Asset Management are among the top foreign stakeholders in these firms, holding 5.86% of Shinhan and 5.01% of iM, respectively.

WOORI EYES SYNERGY WITH NON-BANKING UNITS

The head of Woori Financial Group Inc., Korea’s fourth-largest financial services provider, is also set to embark on an international IR trip to Hong Kong next week.

This would mark Chairman and CEO Yim Jong-yong’s first solo IR session with foreign institutional investors since his inauguration in March 2023.

Yim last appeared in an overseas IR event in London in September 2023, during a joint session with other Korean financial firms and state regulators.  

The trip comes after Woori got the nod from the Korean financial regulator earlier this month for its acquisition of Tongyang Life Insurance Co. and ABL Life Insurance Co., a deal worth 1.55 trillion won ($1.1 billion).

The acquisition is expected to diversify Woori’s earnings base, which has traditionally leaned on its core banking business.

With the new insurance arms, Woori’s total assets have surged to nearly 600 trillion won.

Yim is expected to use the upcoming trip to outline Woori’s post-acquisition growth strategy, including plans to boost synergies across affiliates and unveil improved shareholder-friendly policies.  

As of Tuesday, foreign ownership in Woori stood at 45.2%, up 7.14 percentage points from end-2023.

Driven by strong demand from investors, its shares have risen 17.1% year to date, hitting a historic high of 18,060 won last Thursday.

VALUE-UP PUSH ADDS TAILWIND TO IR DRIVE

The flurry of overseas investor meetings is unfolding against the backdrop of the Korean government’s push for a corporate value-up initiative designed to lift market valuations.

Since the announcement of the initiative in February 2024, 114 listed firms, including the country’s top four financial holding companies, have so far participated in the program.

Participants have pledged new corporate value strategies aimed at boosting transparency, improving shareholder returns and attracting more long-term capital inflow, especially from foreign investors.

Analysts say domestic companies’ dubious shareholder return policy, including the relatively low dividend ratio, is often cited as a Korea discount factor and a key reason for Asia’s fourth-largest economy's absence from MSCI's advanced market index.

Write to Jin-Seong Kim and Sookyung Seo at jskim1028@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.