KB Financial Group
KB Financial Group is not only one of the biggest investment banks in Korea, it is also the top player across the board. It ranks fourth among domestic investment banks, according to Dealogic, with a market share of 4%.
It is a leader in debt capital markets, and ranks first among both international and domestic banks in debt capital markets with a deal volume of more than $12.3 billion, or a 12% market share. It is fourth in the equity capital markets, with deal volume of $255 million and a 4% market share.
In 2018, KB Financial Group reported a net profit of W3.1 trillion ($2.6 billion) and total assets of W480 trillion. KB Securities was a standout part of the business with total assets of W45 trillion, up 20.6% year on year.
Not satisfied with being a key player in the Korean investment banking market, the company is looking overseas as well, and established a local subsidiary in Vietnam in 2018.
KB Financial’s corporate and investment banking business is helped by the strength of its subsidiaries, particularly its securities arm and KB Kookmin Bank. The company noted in its 2018 annual report that it is consciously identifying deals by joining business models and breaking down walls between the two companies. The group says that such cooperation generated W78.3 billion in CIB revenue in 2018.
Its efforts have not gone unnoticed. The Financial Supervisory Service, Korea’s regulator, has awarded KB Securities a customer satisfaction award 12 years in a row.
Kookmin Bank has been a consistent presence in the capital markets as well. The bank is a leader in offshore sustainability bond sales, going so far as to raise sustainability labelled dollars in a bank capital transaction in January 2019, and another in June. Such fund-raising will serve the bank well as it provides an example to its own clients of the benefits of green debt deals, and it gives the bank more green and sustainable money to put to work through loans to Korean companies, particularly the SMEs on which KB Financial likes to focus.