This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 2:28 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2025.
Kim Kwang-ok, deputy CEO of KakaoBank, has been picked to head the investment banking (IB) group at Korea Investment & Securities. After moving from Korea Investment Holdings and Korea Investment & Securities to KakaoBank in 2020, Kim served as chief operating officer (COO) and will return to the fold after six years.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 22nd, Korea Investment & Securities decided to appoint Deputy CEO Kim as IB group head, a post that had been vacant for two years. The personnel announcement is expected in January.
The IB group head position at Korea Investment & Securities has remained vacant since former group head Bae Young-gyu stepped down in 2024. President Kim Sung-hwan has reportedly been doubling as IB group head.
Korea Investment & Securities did not appoint an IB group head even in the regular executive reshuffle carried out on the 10th. Some in the industry had expected IB Strategy Division head Yoon Hee-do (senior executive managing director) to be promoted to group head, but Yoon was retained.
Deputy CEO Kim graduated from the Department of Trade at Korea University and began a career in 1993 at Hanshin Securities (Dongwon Securities), the predecessor of Korea Investment & Securities. He built a reputation in the industry handling initial public offering (IPO) work at Korea Investment & Securities, and served as chief compliance officer at Korea Investment Holdings and chief investment officer (CIO) at Korea Investment Partners.
In March 2020, Deputy CEO Kim moved to KakaoBank, in which Korea Investment Holdings is the second-largest shareholder, and led the company's pre-IPO fundraising and IPO. He currently serves as deputy CEO and a member of the internal control committee and the risk management committee. As a registered executive, he was reappointed twice and his term expires in March next year.
An IB industry official said, "Deputy CEO Kim is known as a benevolent leader and had a good reputation inside and outside the company since his time at Korea Investment," and added, "Originally, personnel changes were expected in February–March next year, but they have been moved up, and there is a high possibility of an appointment before the holding company's report on Jan. 23."
If Deputy CEO Kim moves to IB group head, Korea Investment & Securities is expected to further strengthen competitiveness in the IB segment. Throughout this year, under President Kim Sung-hwan's leadership, the firm has aggressively expanded IB operations centered on principal investments.
Regarding the IB group head appointment, a Korea Investment & Securities official said, "Nothing has been decided yet."