Top brokerages replace chief analysts amid economic slump

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- Top South Korean brokerage houses have changed their chief analysts this year in an apparent move to tackle the protracted economic slump, market sources said Monday.

The country's 11 securities firms, including Hana Daetoo Securities Co., Woori Investment & Securities Co. and KB Investment & Securities Co., have sought to change their heads of research divisions in 2013, the sources said.

Of the companies tallied, seven brokerage houses replaced chief analysts by promoting an internal successor, rather than scouting candidates from other rivals. Two securities firms still have their seats vacant.

Market watchers said the move came as local securities firms have been tightening their belts to cope with the prolonged slump in the local stock market, which weighed down on their profitability.

The number of employees at local brokerage houses also declined for the fifth consecutive quarter in line with their efforts to cut costs, a separate data by the Financial Supervisory Service showed.

The country's 62 local securities firms employed 42,317 workers at the end of the first quarter ending in March, down 3.42 percent from 43,820 tallied a year earlier, the data showed.