By Kim Jae-won
Staff Reporter
Of late, it is hard to find differences between local and foreign lenders in business practice and management because Korean banks have adopted advanced financial systems and skills from Western banks since the 1997-1998 financial crisis.
However, there still exists an element that clearly tells local from foreign lenders ― the age of the management. Executives of foreign banks operating here are much younger than their Korean counterparts.
Richard Hill, president and CEO of Standard Chartered Korea and Standard Chartered First Bank, has been in the spotlight here since taking the helm of the U.K.-headquartered lender at the age of 45 two weeks ago. Hill is the youngest bank CEO in the nation.
At the executive vice president level, people are noticeably younger. Peter Hatt, executive vice president and head of human resources of the lender, is just 32 years old. Ruth Naderer, executive vice president and head of corporate affairs of SC Korea, is 38 years old.
SC Korea cited diversity and meritocracy as the reasons for its younger executives.
“Our commitment to diversity and meritocracy is simple. We want to get the best out of the broadest spectrum of people in order to sustain strong business performance and competitive advantage,” Lee Ji-won, senior media manger of the lender, told The Korea Times.
Citibank Korea, the Korean arm of Citigroup, has a relatively young management. Sergio Zanatti, executive vice president and head of credit card business at the lender, is 41.
The Peruvian joined the international bank in 1996 as a director for credit card business at Citibank Peru. In 2002, he became the CEO of Citibank Dominican Republic when he was 34.
Matthew Deakin, HSBC Korea’s CEO, is also below 50, at 47 years old.
This is in stark contrast to Korean bank CEOs whose average age is close to 60. Kookmin Bank CEO Kang Chung-won is 59 years old; Shinhan Bank CEO Lee Baek-soon is two years younger than Kang. Woori Bank CEO Lee Chong-hwi is 60 while Hana Bank CEO Kim Jung-tae is 57.
The average age of Korean CEOs at 704 listed companies was 57.1 years old in July 2009, according to Korea Listed Companies Association.
Analysts say that the reason foreign lenders have younger executives, including CEOs, is that they have a more meritocratic corporate culture where employees are rewarded based on their performance rather than age.
"For any organization, meritocracy motivates employees to work hard, which leads to organizational success,’’ a foreign bank executive said.
“Foreign banks do not care about age. They assess employees and executives only based on performance and outcome.”