Korean broker opens Vietnam office

Korea Investment & Securities (KIS), one of South Korea’s four leading brokers, launched a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday, hoping to be buoyed by the blooming domestic stock market.

The company will focus on securities market research, promotion of cooperation projects in the securities sector and supervision of contracts signed by Korean firms with local partners.

James Sang-Ho Ryu, CEO of KIS, said the Vietnam office would be a gateway towards entering Indochina’s emerging economies like Laos and Cambodia.

KIS also foresees good business opportunities in Vietnam on the back of its rapid annual 8 percent economic growth rate which is expected to bolster the local stock exchange.

A recent KIS report showed that companies listing on Vietnam’s stock market are enjoying over 50 percent growth rates.

In 2006, KIS became the first South Korean firm to launch an investment fund in the country.

To date, the company has opened seven funds worth US$1.1 billion in the Southeast Asian country.

The funds focus on securities, real estate and mining, and are currently managed by KIS subsidiary Korea Investment Trust Management Co. Ltd (KITMC).

Many foreign securities firms have entered Vietnam since earlier this year, all eying a piece of the rapidly-growing market.

Just this year the State Securities Commission licensed four foreign securities companies to establish representative offices in the country – Japan’s Daiwa Securities SMBC, Singapore’s Kim Eng Securities Pte. Ltd, the UK’s Dragon Capital Group, and Cayman Islands’ Mekong Capital Ltd.

Other major foreign players with representative offices include Tong Yang Investment Bank and Mirae Asset Maps Investment form RoK, Singapore’s Blackhorse Asset Management, and Japan’s Nomura International.

None of them have opened full-fledged offices yet, but under Vietnam’s WTO commitments they can set up joint venture with 49 percent ownership.