Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Eugene Investment opens up 'metaverse' branch
Eugene Investment's metaverse branch image, left, looks exactly like Champions Lounge, the brokerage's flagship wealth management center located in Nonhyeon-dong in southern Seoul. Courtesy of Eugene Investment & Securities
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
In a move to strengthen communications with the so-called MZ generation, Eugene Investment & Securities has opened a virtual “metaverse” branch of its flagship “Champions Lounge” wealth management center located in southern Seoul's affluent Gangnam District.
The metaverse branch brings an actual wealth management center to Zepetto, a metaverse-based digital platform. The virtual site mirrors the real wealth management center, as online visitors to the branch can view artworks displayed on the first floor.
The displayed art pieces are works created by the firm's designers who have developmental disabilities. In September, the brokerage company hired nine designers with developmental disabilities, as part of the company's ESG-principled management efforts.
Virtual characters view art displayed on the first floor of Eugene Investment's metaverse branch. Courtesy of Eugene Investment & Securities
Eugene Investment & Securities plans to host a wide range of promotional events, from arts to financial seminars, to draw the attention of its targeted group of the country's younger generations.
“The metaverse branch of Champions Lounge is one of the various projects that Eugene Investment & Securities is pushing ahead with to get closer to the country's MZ generation,” a company official said. “Other varied projects for the MZ generation are also in preparation, which will be revealed to the public in the near future.”
Other major brokerage firms, including NH Investment and Mirae Asset, are also working on their own metaverse branch projects to increase their appeal to the younger generations amid an accelerated digital transformation of the financial industry.