NOVEL NEXT WORLD 48
“Hello, this is Yuseong Investment Securities’ Seongnam Branch. I called you the other day…”
Click-
Before Dokyung could finish his greeting, the call was abruptly ended. He sighed and put down the phone.
The person who had hung up so coldly was a client who had been receiving asset management services from Oh Seok-hoon. They were understandably angry after the recent series of events.
“That’s the fourth one already…”
Four clients had hung up on him and notified headquarters that they would be terminating their asset management services.
The price of betraying trust was indeed harsh.
Of course, Oh Seok-hoon had also paid the price for his choices by leaving the company, but the bitterness remained unavoidable.
Knock knock-
“Yes, come in.”
As Dokyung spoke, the door opened and a man entered the room.
“PB Yoon Dokyung?”
The man who entered asked, looking at Dokyung, who stood up from his seat.
“Yes, how can I…”
“I’m Park Inho.”
“Ah, client-nim. Welcome.”
Dokyung bowed in greeting. The man who had entered was a client previously managed by Oh Seok-hoon, and now under Dokyung’s care. They had spoken on the phone a couple of times before.
“I’m glad you’re here. I came without an appointment.”
“Not at all. Would you like to sit down?”
Dokyung guided the client to the sofa and brought him a drink.
“I should have visited you. I’m sorry for making you come here.”
The client shook his head at Dokyung’s words.
“No, the person with business should come.”
The client continued, addressing Dokyung.
“I heard your explanation over the phone, but I wanted to hear it in person. I was also curious about what kind of person you are.”
“Ah, yes. Please wait a moment.”
Dokyung stood up and began searching for documents at his desk.
The client who had come today was one to whom Dokyung had apologized and explained future measures over the phone a few days ago.
That day, the client had ended the call without giving any response, so Dokyung hadn’t expected him to visit like this.
“Was it Future Communications you mentioned?”
The client asked the main point as soon as Dokyung sat down.
“Yes, that’s right.”
A few days ago, during the call, Dokyung had suggested keeping an eye on Future Communications, and it seemed the client had come to hear the detailed reasons.
“My loss from this Take Games incident is -11%. Before that, my portfolio return was -12%.”
Given that the market return over the past six months was -31%, the client had lost less than the market average, but it was still a disappointing return for any client.
After all, no one receives asset management services to get a -23% report card.
“I’m deeply sorry.”
“I wanted to see your face because I found you intriguing.”
“Pardon?”
“For the past three years, every time I suffered losses, I only heard words of regret. Well, I let it slide because the market was good and I still made profits, but…”
Dokyung felt exposed by the client’s words.
This was the main reason why clients had been losing faith in securities firms’ asset management services.
“You’re the first one to tell me a plan to recover losses, like PB Yoon Dokyung did. Among the three PBs I’ve dealt with over three years, that is.”
Dokyung felt embarrassed, but knowing the client hadn’t come to hear such things, he placed the documents he had brought on the table and began to speak.
“As I explained over the phone, we should consider that we’re currently at the beginning of an economic downturn.”
There had been debates since the end of last year about whether a recession would come or not, but now it was an undeniable period of economic downturn.
“The prices of raw materials, oil refining, and grains are falling, and with U.S. short-term Treasury yields surpassing long-term yields, all indicators are pointing towards a recession.”
“There’s one thing I’m curious about.”
Dokyung smiled at the client, as if encouraging him to ask comfortably.
“The media and experts said that inflation was triggered by rising prices of raw materials and crude oil, but isn’t it good if prices are falling?”
“Of course, falling oil prices would be good for countries like ours that depend on imports, but we need to look at why they’re falling.”
Dokyung continued his explanation, looking excited as he addressed the client.
He was enjoying answering questions about this situation from a client.
“Due to high oil prices, factories have stopped, and companies have gone bankrupt. Naturally, demand will decrease as companies that needed oil have gone out of business.”
“Ah, so that’s why oil prices are falling.”
“Yes. The bankruptcy of companies ultimately leads to unemployment, which is a major cause of economic recession.”
The client nodded with a smile, as if he clearly understood.
“Then, your recommendation of Future Communications is…”
“I’m sorry, but which telecom company do you use, client-nim?”
“Future Communications.”
Dokyung had asked just in case, and his guess was correct. This would make the explanation easier.
“Why do you use Future Communications?”
“Well… I’ve been using it for a long time, and it has the best quality.”
“Yes, for reasons like yours, Future Communications has a 48% market share in the domestic mobile telecommunications market. If we include their subsidiary budget phone company, their market share reaches 53%.”
The client looked surprised at Dokyung’s words.
In fact, it’s bothersome to switch carriers, and people tend to use the number one mobile carrier, but he hadn’t realized the market share was that high.
“The remaining 47% is fought over by the other carriers, so we can say that Future Communications essentially holds a monopolistic position.”
In reality, the second-place carrier only had a 25% market share.
‘Invest in monopolies’ was like gospel from the Bible for market participants.
If there’s only one supermarket in an apartment complex, it’s guaranteed a minimum level of sales.
The same applied to Future Communications.
Unless they were customers who frequently switched carriers for benefits, most were long-term subscribers like the client sitting before him.
“Mobile phones belong to the category of defensive stocks that guarantee sales even in tough economic times because they’re essential even when the economy is struggling.”
“Ah, like bank stocks?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But can this alone recover my losses?”
“From a recovery perspective, I can’t say for certain. However, if you want to recover even a portion of your stock losses with stocks in the current situation, this is an appropriate stock.”
At Dokyung’s words, the client nodded and seemed to fall into deep thought.
“And one more thing.”
Dokyung pointed to the documents with his finger and continued speaking.
“Here, you can see something called the foreign ownership limit exhaustion rate. Do you know what this is?”
“I’m not sure.”
“According to the Telecommunications Business Act, foreigners cannot own more than 49% of the total shares in telecommunications companies.”
“Ah, I see.”
“The foreign ownership limit exhaustion rate shows what percentage of that 49% share quantity has been exhausted.”
In the case of telecommunications, as it was a national infrastructure industry, laws were enacted to prevent it from falling into foreign capital.
“Hansung Telecom has a foreign ownership limit exhaustion rate of 97.8%, and Yujin Communications is at 91.8%. On the other hand, Future Communications…”
“It’s 81.53%. But what does this mean…”
“There are many foreign investors in Korea. Even when the market is not good like now, they also build their portfolios around defensive stocks.”
At Dokyung’s words, the client seemed to be grasping something, his eyes darting back and forth as he appeared to be thinking.
“And they won’t invest everything in one sector, but will divide their ratio. Casinos, finance…”
“They’ll invest in telecommunications too, right?”
“That’s right. At that time, they can’t help but pay attention to Future Communications, which is the industry leader and has a low foreign ownership limit exhaustion rate.”
Foreigners moved big money.
They were capital that greatly influenced the market, to the extent that some people in the market invested by following foreign investment trends.
As Dokyung finished his explanation, the client nodded as if he had gained some certainty.
“Good. Please invest in Future Communications.”
As the client made his decision, Dokyung smiled brightly.
“I’ll create a new portfolio including Future Communications. I’ll do my best to help you recover the losses you’ve incurred.”
The client also smiled and nodded.
“To be honest, I came here today to give you a piece of my mind and terminate the service if you made hollow promises like PB Oh Seok-hoon.”
“……”
“But you’re clearly different. Just as I felt when you apologized and explained about the game stocks to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No need to be. I’ll trust you, PB Yoon, and wait a little. I’m counting on you.”
The client extended his hand towards Dokyung, who grasped it with a confident expression.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
“Yes, Director. I’m deeply sorry.”
Two weeks later, Ryu Tae-hwa, the branch manager of Yuseong Investment Securities’ Seongnam Branch, was on the phone. The person on the other end of the line was Sim Ju-won, the director of the WM Division at headquarters and vice president of the company.
-We’ve decided on Oh Seok-hoon’s disciplinary level in a way that doesn’t hold you responsible.
“If there’s any part I should take responsibility for…”
-Tae-hwa. Live a little more cunningly. The CEO’s term ends this year. I need someone I can trust and use.
At Sim Ju-won’s words, Ryu Tae-hwa clamped his mouth shut.
-And it was written in the incident report that you kept calling him in and warning him, so you’ve done your part.
“…I’m sorry.”
-We’ll select and send new PBs from headquarters, so manage with the current staff for now without any problems.
Oh Seok-hoon had received a dismissal notice as a result of the headquarters’ disciplinary action.
According to the company’s compliance regulations, client money couldn’t be invested based on unconfirmed information, and such information couldn’t be disclosed to clients.
-Right now, the Seongnam branch is running at number one in sales, and it’s a good time for you to look after your career too. You’re not planning to stay there forever, are you?
“These days, I feel like I could just stay here.”
-What did you say?
“Teaching someone…”
Ryu Tae-hwa trailed off for a moment before speaking again.
“I think the term ‘teaching’ might be disrespectful to that friend. Because I’m the one learning. I’m realizing how happy it is to watch someone grow.”
-Are you talking about Yoon Dokyung?
“Yes, that’s right.”
-I was happiest when I watched you grow too.
“……”
Ryu Tae-hwa was at a loss for words. If he opened his mouth, he felt like only apologies would come out.
-As I said, I need someone I can trust and use. So do better.
“Yes, I understand.”
-Alright, keep up the good work.
“Yes, take care.”
After ending the call, Ryu Tae-hwa let out a long sigh.
When he was at headquarters, he hadn’t realized how difficult it was to manage people.
Now that he was in the field, it was so challenging that he felt sorry for the branch managers he used to pressure.
As a branch manager, he was also a PB, managing clients while simultaneously managing his subordinates.
“So I think I’m being punished… I should work hard.”
Ryu Tae-hwa thought he was receiving punishments for things he hadn’t felt in the past.
Knock knock-
“Yes, come in.”
At his words, the door opened and the deputy branch manager entered.
“Ah, Deputy Branch Manager, I was just…”
“Branch Manager. I think you need to come out for a moment.”
“What?”
“A familiar scene is unfolding again.”
At the deputy branch manager’s cryptic words, Ryu Tae-hwa stood up and followed him out.
“What… is going on here?”
Several clients were sitting in the waiting area in front of the PBs’ office, and there were even clients standing due to lack of seats.
“Could it be…”
Ryu Tae-hwa thought there was only one person who could create this scene.
“Yes, it’s Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”
“What has he done this time?”
“It’s about Future Communications that Yoon Dokyung-ssi mentioned in the meeting.”
“Future Communications today…”
Ryu Tae-hwa was already amazed by one thing about Dokyung’s insight.
Two weeks ago, in a meeting, Dokyung had mentioned Future Communications, and now, two weeks later, Future Communications was rising even in this difficult market after announcing dividend expansion and treasury stock buybacks.
It was a timely pick as a defensive stock, and with the additional good news, foreign investors were rushing to buy it.
“It seems one of Oh Seok-hoon-daeri’s clients who had suffered losses from investing in Take Games has fully recovered their losses.”
“But this scene…”
“That client apparently is the treasurer of a local golf club. When he told the club members about his situation, this scene unfolded…”
At the deputy branch manager’s explanation, Ryu Tae-hwa chuckled.
Yoon Dokyung was truly someone whose luck matched his skills.
“If you’ve made your decision, please come back again. Take care!”
Just then, Dokyung’s office door opened as he escorted a client out, and his eyes met with Ryu Tae-hwa’s.
“Ah, Branch…”
As Dokyung was about to greet him, Ryu Tae-hwa waved his hand as if to say it was fine. Then he gave Dokyung a single nod.
As if understanding what Ryu Tae-hwa’s nod meant, Dokyung smiled brightly, gave a slight bow, and entered his room with the next client.