Kiwoom Securities threw its hat into the ring in the retirement pension market. Leaning on its strength as No. 1 in market share in Korea's stock market for 21 consecutive years and touting its online platform competitiveness, it set a goal to reach a 10% retirement pension market share within 10 years and rank in the industry's top five by assets.
Kiwoom Securities held a press briefing on May 28 at the TP Tower in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, and unveiled its retirement pension business strategy slated for launch on June 1. Once Kiwoom Securities begins offering retirement pension services, it will be the 47th retirement pension provider nationwide and the 15th among securities firms.
Kiwoom Securities cited the fast-growing market size and the market structure shifting toward online as the background for its entry into the retirement pension market. Eom Ju-sung of Kiwoom Securities said, "The size of retirement pensions has exceeded 500 trillion won, and at the same time, subscriber expectations for online platforms have grown beyond offline." Another reason cited was that MoneyMove is occurring mainly toward securities in a structure once dominated by banks and insurers.
As a latecomer, it put online innovation at the forefront. Kiwoom Securities plans to revamp its platform so that retirement pension subscribers can use investment functions on Hero MTS S# at the same level as general stock transactions. It also plans to introduce an "integrated withdrawal solution" that allows users to manage key tax-advantaged accounts such as individual pensions and retirement pensions in one platform—systematic investing during the accumulation phase and integrated management during the withdrawal phase.
In addition, Kiwoom Securities plans to fully waive DB, DC, and IRP fees for one year after enrollment to boost customer share. After one year, it will introduce, for the first time in the industry, a performance-linked fee for individual retirement pension (IRP) accounts to raise long-term real returns. It will charge a base fee, but waive the fee if the customer's return falls short of the benchmark.
It is also putting weight behind strengthening product competitiveness. Noting strong demand for transferring principal-and-interest-guaranteed products from banks and insurers during the in-kind transfer process, it said it has signed broader principal-and-interest product agreements than rival providers. Alongside this, it will expand performance-based products such as funds and exchange-traded funds (ETF), and, for the first time in the industry, introduce foreign-currency RPs first, followed by a sequential rollout of product lines such as bonds and equity-linked securities (ELS).
Given its online foundation, it will also operate a real-time dedicated counseling channel to improve customer convenience.