With Sohn Dae-hee, CEO of Welcome F&D and the eldest son of Chairman Sohn Jong-joo, named as a candidate for the next CEO of Welcome Savings Bank, a "second-generation management" era appears set to begin in earnest.
According to the financial sector on the 25th, Welcome Savings Bank recently convened the Nominating Committee and recommended two candidates for the next CEO: CEO Sohn and Park Jong-sung, executive vice president of the investment finance division at Welcome Savings Bank. Although there are two candidates for the CEO post, some expect the bank could adopt a co-CEO structure. The CEO is set to be finally appointed at the shareholders' meeting at the end of this month.
Sohn joined Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) as a teller in 2008 and moved to Welcome Savings Bank in 2015. He later transferred to Welcome F&D, serving as head of strategic management division and head of strategic management office, before being promoted to executive vice president in 2022 and president in Jan. 2025. About a year later, he has become a candidate for CEO of Welcome Savings Bank, the group's key subsidiary.
The Nominating Committee at Welcome Savings Bank was said to have concluded that CEO Sohn proved his managerial acumen and leadership at affiliated company Welcome F&D.
Welcome F&D effectively serves as the group's holding company. DS Holdings, wholly owned by CEO Sohn, controls Welcome Credit Line, which in turn controls Welcome Savings Bank and Welcome Capital Worldwide, among others. Welcome Capital Worldwide is an intermediate holding company with overseas subsidiaries, and CEO Sohn has led the overseas business through it.
Overseas performance was not strong. Most of the overseas subsidiaries established in six countries—Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Singapore—posted losses ranging from 1 billion won to 10 billion won in 2024. Only Welcome Leasing Lao, the Laos unit, recorded a net profit of 650 million won in 2024.
As a result, on a consolidation basis, the current-period profit and loss of Welcome Credit Line, the parent of Welcome Capital Worldwide, swung from a 44.7 billion won profit in 2023 to an 88 billion won loss in 2024. Welcome Credit Line's audit reports have been published annually since 2004, and this was the first time it fell into the red. During the same period, the company's consolidated assets fell from 6.67 trillion won to 6.34 trillion won, and retained earnings decreased from 954.1 billion won to 868.4 billion won.
A financial industry source said, "It appears the group is hurrying to cement a second-generation management system."