KOFIA's new chief vows to cooperate with authorities to support market liquidity

Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) President Seo Yoo-seok speaks during a press conference held at KOFIA's headquarters located on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KOFIA

By Anna J. Park

Seo Yoo-seok, who was sworn in as the 6th president of the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) in late December, vowed to cooperate closely with financial authorities to support necessary market liquidity in times of increased economic uncertainty.

In his new year's message announced during a press conference held at the KOFIA headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday, Seo said the top priority of the association lies in overcoming the market crisis.

“The financial investment industry is faced with a variety of tasks ranging from a reduced private equity fund market, fallen investor trust and stagnated public equity fund, to real estate market's project financing (PF) crisis borne by local brokerage companies. Amid such difficulties, the association will support the stabilization of the country's short-term capital fund market as it closely cooperates with the government and related ministries,” Seo said during the press conference.

He added, the requirement of close consultation with every party in the economy, including the parliament, the financial authorities and media, is more significant than ever, stressing that without stability in the market, good policies would be of no avail.

As Seo, former CEO of Mirae Asset Management, is KOFIA's first president with background as a chief in the field of asset management, he also puts emphasis on the need to both advance the public's asset management to a higher level and inject more liquidity into venture capital sectors.

In order to bring the goals to reality, Seo emphasized the introduction of a business development company (BDC) into the country is important, as the BDC helps sharing the fruit of business growth with investors. A BDC is an organization that operates like investment funds that inject money for small- and medium-sized companies to nurture them to grow past the initial stages of their development. The KOFIA chief vows to fully support parliamentary procedures to adopt the system into Korea.

He also stressed the need to revitalize public mutual funds, as the association aims to newly introduce tax benefits for long-term investors. At the same time, he vows to seek further development for local private equity firms by attempting to remove regulations that puts restraints on growth.

He also vowed to fully support the growth of the private pension market, which could complement the public pension system.

“With the recent changes taking place at the public pension system, it is paramount that the private pension market should further be advanced, so that private pensions could protect seniors' income level,” the KOFIA head said.

The new KOFIA chief will be leading the investment companies' association until 2025.