With Lee Jae-geun KB Financial Group(105560) institutional sector head designated as the next chairman, a major personnel shake-up is expected to hit KB Financial Group at year's end. This year, the terms of 10 affiliate chief executive officers (CEOs) are set to expire.
Meeting reporters on the morning of the 14th as he arrived for work at the new building of KB Financial Group in Yeouido, Seoul, the nominee said of year-end affiliate CEO appointments, "I will proceed after considering who can lead our people's dedication based on capability and expertise, not limited by age." The nominee also said, "A generational shift means making decisions swiftly and responsibly, rather than age." That is interpreted to mean he will not pursue personnel renewal based solely on age.
However, in the financial sector, the dominant view is that, because the KB Financial Group Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee emphasized a generational shift as the backdrop to its "surprise selection" of the nominee, a large-scale reshuffle of CEOs and executives reflecting this will be carried out at year's end.
Born in 1966, the nominee is relatively young. In the industry, there is talk that those older than the nominee or those who competed for the next chairman post could voluntarily step down. When Yang Jong-hee took office as chairman previously, former Vice Chair Heo In and former Vice Chair Lee Dong-chul, who had been in the next-chairman pool, voluntarily resigned.
At KB Financial Group, there are three institutional sector heads including the nominee, and the other two are all older than the nominee. Lee Hwan-joo, head of KB Kookmin Bank; Lee Hong-gu, head of wealth management (WM) at KB Securities; and Seong Chae-hyun, head of KB Real Estate Trust, are also older than the nominee.
At the end of this year, five executives—Lee Hwan-joo, head of KB Kookmin Bank; Kim Jae-gwan, head of KB Kookmin Card; Jeong Mun-cheol, head of KB Life Insurance; Yoon Beom-ryeol, head of KB Investment; and Park Chan-yong, head of KB Data Systems—will complete their first terms. Five incumbent CEOs up for renewal—Lee Hong-gu; Koo Bon-uk, head of KB Insurance; Kim Young-seong, head of KB Asset Management; Bin Jung-il, head of KB Capital; and Seong Chae-hyun—also see their terms end at the year's close.
The course for bank head Lee Hwan-joo is expected to be the first test of the "Lee Jae-geun system." Lee was tapped by Yang Jong-hee at the end of 2024 to move from head of KB Life Insurance to head of KB Kookmin Bank. Since taking office, Lee has posted clear results, including reclaiming the leading bank position and setting record earnings.
When the nominee was appointed in 2021 as the youngest head of KB Kookmin Bank, there were not a few older executives within the bank. At the time, Vice President Seong Chae-hyun of the personal customer group, Vice President Kim Un-tae of the small and midsize enterprise customer group, Vice President Woo Sang-hyun of the corporate and investment banking (CIB) customer group, and Vice President Kim Young-gil of the capital markets group all completed their terms and stepped down in sequence.
