NOVEL NEXT 26
“Performance is getting tougher and tougher.”
One month later, at Yuseong Investment Securities’ Seongnam Branch.
Branch Manager Ryu Tae-hwa sighed as he looked at the branch’s recent performance.
As anxiety about the market persisted, there was no influx of new funds. As a result, they had to generate profits from the funds of existing clients, and there was only one way to squeeze performance out of them.
‘Why don’t you try increasing the turnover rate?’
This was the advice from the WM Management Team Leader at headquarters, but Ryu Tae-hwa knew that already.
To increase the turnover rate, they would have to persuade clients to sell stocks that could be more profitable, and convince them to cut losses on stocks that had fallen in price, even though they might recover if left alone.
In the end, to secure performance, they had to act against the clients’ interests.
“I don’t want to go that far.”
Ryu Tae-hwa believed that in a difficult market, experts like himself needed to broaden their clients’ insights.
He thought that becoming blinded by performance and narrowing clients’ perspectives in such a market would not benefit the company in the long run.
“First, prioritize attracting new clients…”
Knock knock-
“Yes, come in.”
Ryu Tae-hwa reflexively answered the knock, and as the door opened, the deputy branch manager entered the room with a group of people.
“B-Branch Manager.”
The deputy branch manager wore a very flustered expression, and at that moment, a familiar face pushed past him and stepped forward.
“Ryu Tae-hwa, Team Leader… no, I should say Branch Manager now, right? Long time no see.”
At the unexpected visitor’s words, Ryu Tae-hwa’s expression rapidly hardened.
“Former Department Head.”
Ryu Tae-hwa stood up and bowed his head in greeting. The person who had come to the branch unannounced was Jeon Seung-jae, the head of the WM Support Department at headquarters.
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“Yes, I hope you’ve been well too, sunbae.”
At Ryu Tae-hwa’s words, Jeon Seung-jae smirked and approached him, extending his hand. Ryu Tae-hwa grasped the offered hand.
“Have I been well?”
Familiar with Jeon Seung-jae’s sharp tone, Ryu Tae-hwa spoke up.
“I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been comfortable.”
At Ryu Tae-hwa’s words, Jeon Seung-jae smiled as if he had already experienced Ryu Tae-hwa’s personality many times and released his hand.
“How’s branch work? Is it manageable?”
“It’s manageable.”
“Good to hear it suits you.”
“I don’t think you came to check on my situation, so why…”
“Ah, where are my manners? From today, Seongnam Branch is subject to an audit.”
At Jeon Seung-jae’s words, Ryu Tae-hwa’s forehead furrowed.
“What do you mean…”
“Did you think you wouldn’t be investigated after ranking at the bottom in performance for two consecutive months?”
As Jeon Seung-jae mentioned performance, Ryu Tae-hwa’s mouth clamped shut.
“Here’s the document with the Vice President’s approval, so please confirm it. Deputy Branch Manager.”
“Y-Yes, Department Head.”
“Please guide us to the conference room.”
At Jeon Seung-jae’s words, the deputy branch manager looked at Ryu Tae-hwa with uneasy eyes, and Ryu Tae-hwa nodded.
“Please guide them.”
“I’ll be coming here to work every day until the investigation is over, so I look forward to working with you, Branch Manager Ryu Tae-hwa.”
“…Yes, understood.”
As Ryu Tae-hwa answered, Jeon Seung-jae smiled.
“Ah, and please bring all the recent daily performance reports for each employee to the conference room. Shall we go?”
The deputy branch manager led Jeon Seung-jae and the headquarters staff out of the branch manager’s office, and Ryu Tae-hwa quietly watched their retreating figures.
Bang-
Even after the door closed with a ‘bang,’ Ryu Tae-hwa stared at that spot for a while before letting out a long sigh and taking out his phone to dial a familiar number.
“Vice President, this is Ryu Tae-hwa. I’d like to meet with you.”
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“CEO, we need to make a decision.”
At DU’s headquarters.
An emergency executive meeting was being held, and at the Planning Director’s words, the CEO sighed.
“Are you sure Carl Sutton is behind this?”
“We’re not certain yet, but given previous cases, we should consider it.”
Who was Carl Sutton?
He was a corporate raider whose name alone made companies around the world tremble.
This was no exaggeration. Even a large American food company that was thought to be impregnable fell to his attack, with all the executives ousted and the company split into pieces and sold off.
He would keep only the most profitable businesses, sell them at high prices, and eliminate the company’s future, focused solely on profits.
Some called them barbarians who only cared about money, to the extent that what mattered to them was not corporate control, but only money.
He was a figure who had even attacked a famous chemical company in Japan, prompting calls for revising company law there.
“The Chairman said to refuse.”
The CEO spoke while looking at the documents on the table.
On the table was a due diligence request sent by Steellife a few days ago.
Shareholders owning a certain percentage of shares could request cooperation for due diligence on company operations, which was typically done before acquiring a company.
From DU’s perspective, this seemed excessive for an investor holding only 5% of shares.
“If we refuse the due diligence, Steellife will use this as justification to attack.”
The Planning Director warned the CEO.
“I know. But if that’s the Chairman’s will, what more can we do? And I agree with the Chairman’s opinion.”
They say misfortunes never come singly.
The company’s owner, the Chairman, was lowering his profile while under prosecution investigation. Just as the company was at its most vulnerable, with investigations into the entire group by the prosecution and the Fair Trade Commission, external forces seemed to be launching an attack as if they had been waiting for this moment.
“Will they stop attacking if we accept the due diligence?”
At the CEO’s question, the Planning Director kept his mouth shut.
“If we accept, they’ll find something during the due diligence, make a fuss about it in the media, and use that to justify their attack on us.”
“……”
“Let’s refuse, and it might be good to form a task force with some smart people to respond.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll prepare right away.”
“Good, analyze previous attack cases and prepare a report to submit to the Chairman.”
“Yes, I’ll submit the report as soon as possible.”
With those words, the Planning Director stood up, bowed his head, and left the CEO’s office. DU’s CEO let out a long sigh.
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“What’s this?”
Meanwhile, at Yuseong Investment Securities’ Seongnam Branch, headquarters WM Support Department staff were conducting an audit.
At WM Support Department Head Jeon Seung-jae’s words, the staff reviewing documents turned their attention to him.
“What’s with this turnover rate? This shows they’ve done absolutely nothing.”
Jeon Seung-jae said this as he passed the document to the team leader in front of him. The team leader, checking the document, nodded as if recognizing a familiar name.
“He’s a junior PB, just one month in. He’s the winner of the mock investment competition from two months ago.”
“Ah, right. I thought the name was familiar, but why is the managed amount so high?”
“It is a large amount for a junior PB.”
Jeon Seung-jae, seeming to feel that wasn’t the important point, trailed off and looked at the team leader.
“No, he’s managing assets of 2.3 billion won, but the turnover rate is 40%? This shows he’s done nothing.”
The trading turnover rate meant the ratio of stock trades to the cash entrusted by investors. In other words, if Dokyung bought stocks with the 2.3 billion won he was managing and then sold all those stocks, it would be 100%.
A rate lower than 100% meant he was only buying stocks with the managed assets and not selling the purchased stocks.
“This is why the branch’s performance is in such a sorry state.”
Jeon Seung-jae spoke as if he was angry.
The branch’s performance depended on quickly turning over trades to collect trading fees.
But if they only bought stocks with the clients’ deposited funds and didn’t sell, naturally the trading turnover rate would fall, and fee profits would be low.
“Call him in.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s a PB in training, right? A junior?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Tell him to come now. We need to hear why he’s doing this and educate him properly.”
At Jeon Seung-jae’s words, one staff member stood up and left the conference room.
“Does Ryu Tae-hwa still think he’s working in the back office?”
Jeon Seung-jae spoke as if he found it absurd.
“When even the branch’s juniors are performing like this, what is the so-called branch manager doing sitting in his office? He should be out there educating them.”
As Jeon Seung-jae’s voice was about to rise, the door opened and the staff member who had just left entered with Dokyung.
Dokyung had known for a few days that headquarters staff had come to conduct an audit, but he was puzzled as to why the department head was calling for him.
“Hello, I’m Yoon Dokyung.”
“Sit over there.”
Ignoring Dokyung’s greeting, Jeon Seung-jae pointed to a seat at the far end, and Dokyung sat down.
“Yoon Dokyung-ssi, how much are you managing right now?”
“About 2.25 billion won.”
“And you’re trading?”
“Yes, out of the 2.25 billion won, excluding the amount the client requested to keep in cash, I’m holding about 1.77 billion won in stocks.”
“What’s the return rate?”
“I’m managing about thirty-five clients, but if I take the average return rate, it’s about 4-5%.”
Jeon Seung-jae nodded at Dokyung’s words.
“That return rate is above the current market return.”
Since the beginning of the year, stocks had been continuously falling, with the market return below -15%.
“Didn’t you learn that when you get that kind of return, you should sell, that you should persuade the client to sell?”
“Pardon?”
“Where do you think your current salary is coming from?”
Dokyung seemed to understand why Jeon Seung-jae had called him. This was something he had discussed separately with Ryu Tae-hwa during their morning branch meetings.
Ryu Tae-hwa had warned that the company might not appreciate this aspect of Dokyung’s approach.
But when Dokyung said it wasn’t the right time to sell stocks that could rise further, Ryu Tae-hwa had supported that idea.
“Dokyung-ssi, your salary comes from the fees generated by quickly turning over the stocks of the clients you manage.”
“I believe it’s not the right time to sell, so I’m planning to hold a bit longer.”
At Dokyung’s words, Jeon Seung-jae let out a derisive laugh.
“Yoon Dokyung-ssi, do you perhaps dislike money?”
Jeon Seung-jae opened his mouth with his characteristic sarcastic tone.
“You need to meet your BEP to receive bonuses, you know. While others are doing everything they can to get performance bonuses, don’t you want to receive bonuses?”
“I like money. But when clients see returns and the corresponding performance…”
“Hahaha.”
Dokyung trailed off at the sound of laughter, and Jeon Seung-jae wiped the smile from his face and looked at Dokyung with a stern expression.
“Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”
“Yes, Department Head.”
“Many people before you have already gone through this.”
“……”
“It would be nice if the client’s performance and the company’s performance could align. It’s such an idealistic statement.”
But it was nothing more than an ideal.
“So don’t act like you’re the only noble one here. You’ll realize I’m right after a few years of experience in this field.”
However, before being a PB, he was a company employee.
Jeon Seung-jae thought that while the company might say they prioritize client performance, employees should be loyal to the company.
“In this market, a 3% return is quite good, so persuade your clients and turn over quickly.”
“……”
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Dokyung silently looked at Jeon Seung-jae, lost in thought.
After a brief deliberation, he seemed to have made up his mind and began to speak.
“What color is this phone?”
Dokyung asked, looking at the phone a staff member right in front of him had placed on the table.
At Dokyung’s question, everyone looked at him with expressions that seemed to say, “What are you talking about?”
“The color?”
“Pink…”
“Why did you choose pink?”
“Because it’s pretty.”
“But you’ve put a case on it. The pretty color you bought it for isn’t even visible. Why did you put a case on it?”
“That’s to prevent scratches…”
Dokyung looked at another staff member’s phone and asked.
“What color is this phone?”
“It’s black…”
“You probably bought it because it’s the prettiest and most versatile color, right? And you put a case on it to prevent scratches and protect it if you drop it.”
The staff member nodded at Dokyung’s questions.
“Hey, Yoon Dokyung-ssi, what are you…”
“Clients will use our Yuseong Investment Securities asset management service with the same psychology.”
Dokyung continued speaking, looking at Jeon Seung-jae.
“They could invest directly themselves, but entrusting asset management to a PB is like putting a case on the phone they carefully chose. It’s for psychological stability.”
Stocks are an extremely risky investment.
From the perspective of people who prefer guaranteed principal.
That psychological stability could come from the words of an influencer they saw on YouTube, or from sharing opinions with other shareholders investing in the same stock.
“Even when investing in high-risk products like stocks to quickly grow the money they’ve worked hard to earn, people seek psychological stability.”
At Dokyung’s words, everyone looked at him with dumbfounded expressions. They didn’t seem to have expected him to rebut Jeon Seung-jae’s words.
“When I tested clients’ investment tendencies and asked why they use PB services, the most common answer was ‘Because you’re professionals.'”
Dokyung looked at Jeon Seung-jae with a resolute expression.
“Because they’re professionals, at least they won’t lose my money. No, they’ll help me earn more.”
“Listen here…”
“I will prioritize the clients’ returns. And the stocks in the clients’ portfolios now are ones that could rise further if we hold onto them.”
“Yoon Dokyung-ssi, you’re a company employee. One who receives a salary from Yuseong Investment Securities!”
Jeon Seung-jae stood up and shouted at Dokyung.
“Raise your turnover rate to over 160% by next month. I’m letting you talk back to me like this now because you’re a junior, but next month, there won’t be any mercy.”
“……”
“Why aren’t you answering!”
Dokyung, seeing that further persuasion was futile, nodded.
“I’ll show you through my performance.”
“Hahaha.”
Jeon Seung-jae laughed as if he found it absurd.
“I don’t know how you think you can improve your performance that way, but if your performance doesn’t improve by next month, you’ll get the lowest training score.”
The lowest training score was tantamount to being told to step away from PB duties.
“You can go now.”
At Jeon Seung-jae’s dismissal, Dokyung stood up, bowed his head, and left the office.
It seemed that from the company’s perspective, Dokyung’s approach was not beneficial.
“Let’s show them that I can improve performance even with my method.”
Dokyung believed there must be a way to benefit the clients’ interests, his own interests, and the company’s interests all at once.
However, unlike Ryu Tae-hwa, Jeon Seung-jae did not accept Dokyung’s opinion. Thinking that if persuasion didn’t work, he had no choice but to demonstrate, Dokyung walked away with a determined expression.