NOVEL NEXT 25
“I’ve been dealing with Yuseong Investment Securities for a long time, but sometimes I just don’t understand.”
Dokyung approached the elderly man who was speaking angrily in his office, bringing a drink and placing it on the table.
“Have a drink and calm down a bit.”
Dokyung opened the lid of the drink and handed it to the old man, who gulped it down.
“You’ve got a good temperament. I knew it from the moment you smiled while dealing with my cantankerous self.”
The old man had entered the room speaking as if something was terribly displeasing to him.
“Even when others said Yuseong Investment Securities wasn’t good, I wanted to deal with them because of the Yuseong Group behind them. I thought a chaebol group might do things differently.”
This was the reason why Yuseong Investment Securities had many long-term clients despite its reputation for incompetence in the industry.
“I thought they’d at least hire good people, but it seems not.”
“Have I done something to offend you?”
“Bah, when have you ever seen me angry at you? I told the counter I wanted to be connected to PB services, and they kept trying to take me somewhere else, so I insisted on being brought to Yoon Dokyung.”
“Is that so?”
It seemed the old man had already had quite a confrontation outside.
“Yes, but they kept saying Yoon Dokyung-ssi manages small asset holders and tried to introduce me to someone else. Don’t they know who Yoon Dokyung is?”
Dokyung now understood why the old man was so red-faced with anger.
“I’m grateful just to hear you say that.”
The old man had built a rapport with Dokyung at the counter over two years of direct investing, and after experiencing the recent Misung Technology fat finger incident, he seemed to have become Dokyung’s ardent fan.
This was why Dokyung loved the stock market. Skill could bring you money, fame, and people—everything.
“Here’s my business card.”
As Dokyung handed over his card, the old man smiled and accepted it.
“Oh my. I even watched that thing you were in, what was it, YouTube?”
“You watched it?”
“Of course, I watched it with bated breath the whole time. You’ve been through a lot.”
The old man carefully placed Dokyung’s business card in his wallet, as if afraid of creasing it, and then took out his own card to give to Dokyung, who accepted it with both hands.
The old man was the CEO of a small to medium-sized enterprise in the Seongnam area. Seeing that he had the title of chairman, it seemed to be quite a sizable company.
“If you need anything, give me a call.”
“Yes, I’ll be sure to contact you.”
Satisfied with Dokyung’s response, the old man nodded and spoke.
“How much do you need?”
“Pardon?”
“Do you know why I’ve been trading at the counter all this time without receiving PB services?”
Dokyung was curious about the old man’s words. Asset holders like him usually don’t invest directly in stocks.
Of course, there were such people, but they were a minority, and most received asset management services while being treated as VIPs.
“I received PB management at first too. But when they said they were managing my assets, they’d sell stocks that could rise 10% when they only rose 5%. How could I not be upset?”
Dokyung nodded seriously at the old man’s words.
A PB’s performance is more about the commissions earned than product subscriptions.
With a monthly BEP (break-even point) of over 100 million won for PBs, where else would they make up all this profit?
Constantly rotating stocks and earning commissions from that is what ultimately filled that BEP.
“So when I said I wanted to watch for a while, they said they understood, but two days later, they were pestering me again, saying we need to sell now.”
While it couldn’t be called good PB practice, it wasn’t incomprehensible either. Under pressure from above, they had no choice but to squeeze their clients.
It was nothing short of a vicious cycle.
“Anyway, after that, I thought if that’s how it’s going to be, I might as well manage it myself, so I did.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Ho ho, why are you apologizing? I know you’re not that kind of person. So, how much do you need?”
The old man looked at Dokyung again with eyes full of conviction.
“At my age, I’ve found I have two things. One is stubbornness, and the other is an eye for people.”
“……”
“Others may say I’m behind the times or whatnot, but I’ve grown my company with just this eye and stubbornness. And this eye tells me you’re different from those other folks.”
Dokyung smiled gently at the old man’s words.
“Please give me a lot.”
“What?”
The old man looked surprised for a moment at Dokyung’s words, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, you rascal. Are you going to take responsibility if you give this old man a heart attack?”
The old man stopped laughing and looked at Dokyung with a serious expression.
“You seem to think I’m joking, but I’m not, so drop the joke and speak seriously.”
At the old man’s serious attitude, Dokyung also put aside his joking manner and looked at him.
“I’d like to manage what you said you were leaving for your grandchild last time.”
“Is that so? Will that be enough?”
“It’s a large sum for me.”
Since Dokyung had taken over clients with accounts in the 10 million won range, the amount the old man mentioned was significant.
“This company really doesn’t have an eye for people, assigning such a paltry amount to our PB Yoon.”
The old man had already started calling Dokyung “our PB Yoon.”
“This is a CMA account with the money I’m entrusting to you, so transfer it all.”
“Thank you for your trust.”
Dokyung stood up and checked the balance in the bankbook the old man handed over.
Then he looked at the old man with a surprised expression, while the old man wore a pleased smile.
“Ah, sir.”
“What? Is it too little?”
“No, it’s too much.”
“Hahaha, it’s my first time seeing a securities firm employee say the money a client is entrusting is too much.”
The old man laughed for a while, then looked at Dokyung with a serious expression.
“It’s my retirement fund. 1.4 billion won should be enough for you to walk with your head held high, right?”
“Of course. With this amount, you could go to the Leaders Branch that only serves VVIP clients, not this Seongnam Branch…”
“But Yoon Dokyung isn’t there.”
The old man smiled at Dokyung.
“I’m entrusting my retirement and my grandchild’s future to Yoon Dokyung because I believe in him.”
“Thank you.”
Dokyung stood up and bowed deeply.
“Go ahead and manage it to your heart’s content.”
“I’ll work hard to ensure your grandchild won’t lack anything in the future, and that you, Chairman, can live more comfortably in your retirement.”
“Hahaha, you’ve gained some confidence. It looks much better on you. Let’s get up.”
The old man stood up and extended his hand to Dokyung, who grasped it with both hands.
“Congratulations once again.”
“Thank you, Chairman.”
“Hahaha, look at this guy. Your way of addressing me changes as soon as I entrust you with money. You can call me father like you have been, instead of Chairman.”
Dokyung smiled at the old man’s words, and the old man patted his shoulder.
“Well, I’ll be going now. Let’s keep in touch often.”
“Yes, take care on your way home.”
Dokyung escorted the old man to the branch entrance, then returned to his room and sighed.
He had attracted client funds for the first time with his own efforts. Resolving to work hard, Dokyung put aside his sense of satisfaction and sat down.
Then he began to tackle the tasks he hadn’t yet completed.
Ring ring-
“Hello, this is Yoon Dokyung from Yuseong Investment Securities Seongnam Branch.”
Dokyung picked up the incoming call.
“Yes, yes, that’s correct. However, for new registrations, it’s better if you could visit the branch once. Or I could come to you. Ah, yes, yes. Then please stop by the day after tomorrow. Your name? Customer Oh Se-jung… Yes, I’ll be waiting.”
For some reason, today seemed to be a day of coincidences, with even a customer calling to inquire about registration.
“The Chairman’s money seems to be lucky money.”
Dokyung muttered to himself, then chuckled as he picked up some documents.
Bzzt-
While he was examining the documents, his phone on the desk vibrated, and Dokyung quickly checked it. The corners of his mouth began to curl upward.
[We support your new beginning. This is the VIP Service.]
It was a welcome message that seemed to be watching his current situation.
[Recommended stock: DU]
[Stock to watch out for: Minwon Construction]
[We are always by your side.]
“It’s good that it came at an appropriate time… but there’s no hint today either.”
As Dokyung searched for the stocks the message had sent on the trading system, his mouth grumbled, but a smile was spreading across his face.
* * *
“Star Yoon, I heard you opened a pipeline?”
The next day, Choi Woojin came to Dokyung’s room during a lull and sprawled on the sofa.
Usually, PBs discussed strategies for the day’s market with their clients just before the market opened, and if nothing special happened after the market started, they took short breaks.
On peaceful market days like today, they had to make time to rest deliberately.
“Star?”
“You’ll soon be the branch ace, so I should call you star.”
In the industry, high-performing PBs were often called stars instead of their names.
“Come on, what have I done to be called a star already? You’re exaggerating, Assistant Manager…”
“You opened a pipeline, didn’t you? Initial attraction of 1.4 billion won with a monthly fixed amount commitment, right?”
A pipeline referred to money coming in regularly.
“If you attract such a large amount on your first day, what am I supposed to live on as your sunbae?”
“I guess he saw me in a good light.”
“That chairman, he’s a good person. Once he picks someone, he supports them endlessly.”
Yesterday, Dokyung had attracted new funds. Of course, there was no performance for the company or branch just from attracting funds, but in a situation where new fund inflows had completely stopped, everyone at the branch was surprised when a new PB brought in funds.
“He’s a good person.”
“So, what stocks are you focusing on these days?”
Dokyung thought he understood why Choi Woojin had come to his room this morning. With the market being so unfavorable, it seemed he was trying to gather information from various sources.
“I’m looking at DU a bit.”
“Where?”
“DU.”
At Dokyung’s words, Choi Woojin furrowed his brow and looked at him.
“Of all the stocks, why DU?”
Dokyung chuckled at Choi Woojin’s reaction. He had thought the same when he first received the message with the letters DU.
“Embezzlement, breach of trust, even unfair in-house trading. The chairman there is talking about going to jail or not. You’re talking about the holding company stock, right?”
“Yes.”
At Dokyung’s answer, Choi Woojin took out his phone and logged into the MTS.
He searched for DU, and just looking at the stock price made him sigh.
“It hit the lower limit for three consecutive days two months ago, and now it’s at 8,000 won. How can the stock price of a holding company of the 4th largest conglomerate be 8,000 won? The dividends are meager too.”
DU was currently under intense investigation by the prosecution due to the recent in-house trading of its subsidiaries, embezzlement by the owner family, and breach of trust charges.
As a result, the holding company’s stock, which had been trading around 20,000 won, was now trading at the 8,000 won level, with not much trading volume.
No matter how big the 4th largest conglomerate was, once owner risk emerged, the market’s reaction was cold.
“You’re not just buying because the price has fallen, right? You look at things short-term.”
Dokyung nodded at Choi Woojin’s question.
“Sunbae, would you like to look at the chart?”
At Dokyung’s words, Choi Woojin got up and approached Dokyung, looking at DU’s chart on the monitor.
“Hmm… The chart is just trending downward… Huh?”
As Choi Woojin was checking the chart with little interest, something strange caught his eye.
“Why did the trading volume spike here?”
As Choi Woojin discovered what he had intended, Dokyung nodded and pulled up a screen showing the trading details.
“What’s this, all the trades were done through MG’s window? They picked up all 5.4 million shares that were put out.”
“Yes. It looks like a change of hands. Someone who knew about the sale information in advance picked it up immediately.”
“Was there a disclosure for this?”
5.5 million shares of DU’s listed shares would trigger the 5% disclosure rule.
There was a rule that when owning more than 5% of a listed company’s shares or when there’s a change of more than 1% in shareholding afterward, it must be disclosed to inform investors.
“Yes. Previously, when a foreign firm called Eastern Asset Management dumped a large portion of their shares, it caused a drop in the already unfavorable stock price.”
“Right, so when they dumped 5.4 million shares, everyone panicked, and that’s when it hit the lower limit for two consecutive days?”
“Yes. Individual investors wouldn’t want to buy with news like this coming out.”
“But a foreign institution sold, and another foreign institution picked it up?”
“Yes, Steellife Fund bought 5.4 million shares. Of course, they disclosed it since it exceeded 5%. They reported it as a simple investment purpose.”
“Steellife? Never heard of it. Is it some insurance company?”
At Choi Woojin’s question, Dokyung shook his head as he looked at him.
“I heard it for the first time too, so I did some research. There was an interesting article.”
“An interesting article?”
“Do you remember the Yujiro Chemical incident in Japan?”
“Who wouldn’t know about that? Carl Sutton was behind it, right?”
“Yes. At the time, Carl Sutton had an ally in the attack on Yujiro Chemical.”
“Don’t tell me… it was Steellife?”
Dokyung nodded with a serious expression at Choi Woojin’s question.
“Yes. It seems they’re targeting DU. Corporate raiders.”