| Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo / Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
Chairman presents 3 strategies for sustainable growth
By Sah Dong-seok
Hana Financial Group is stepping up efforts to emerge as the top financial group in Asia under Ham Young-joo, who was appointed as the group's chairman during a shareholders' meeting in March 2022.
Ham says he will devote himself to enhancing the group's shareholder and corporate value and building a transparent, fair and stable governance structure despite a heap of adversities such as the prolonged low economic growth and accelerated aging of the population.
| The headquarters of Hana Financial Group in central Seoul / Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
Hana Financial has performed well under his leadership. Despite domestic and global economic uncertainties, it posted a consolidated net income of 3.55 trillion won ($2.65 billion) in 2022 through stepped-up marketing efforts, the group's unique selling point. Since the banking integration in 2015, the group's total assets increased by 242 trillion won, or 74 percent, amounting to about 569 trillion won last year.
| Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, front row center, poses with employees after announcing strategic tasks for 2023 in this Jan. 28 photo. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
The group's vision for growth was presented through three major strategies Ham revealed during a New Year's event in January this year titled "Hana Financial Group 2023: One Spirit! Connecting the World and Future as One." More than 4,000 employees from the group and its affiliates took part in the gathering.
His three major strategies are global expansion, digital innovation and reinforcing financial competitiveness.
In a bid to raise its global status, Hana Financial has adopted differentiated strategies in 25 regions and 206 networks across the globe and is pushing for forays into uncharted territories through overseas mergers and acquisitions and digital localization. Hana became the first Korean bank to enter Taiwan by opening a branch in Taipei. This enabled Hana to be the sole Korean bank having networks in Korea's top 10 trading bases, including China, the United States and Vietnam.
Hana Financial plans to enhance its capabilities in investment banking and corporate finance by supporting Korean companies operating in advanced markets such as Europe while trying to continue its localization strategy in Asia.
| Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, second from right, watches OLED screens set up at LG Electronics' booth on the sidelines of this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 5. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
Digital innovation is another area in which Hana Financial is focusing. Ham says high-performing organizations can make the best use of advanced technologies. In line with this strategy, the group is striving to provide more customer-oriented financial services through the expansion of digital conversion and data-based business capabilities and explore digital technology-based businesses in its bid to seek new growth opportunities.
A case in point is the strategic partnership formed between Hana Financial and SK Telecom last July. Under the alliance, the two companies agreed to boost social value by expanding investments in promising startups and projects for young people, a move aimed at creating an environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) ecosystem for common prosperity.
The partnership is also expected to speed up their joint drive in the digital transformation of finance. Hana Financial, in particular, aims to innovate its financial services by using SK Telecom's expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing.
In his effort to experience the latest digital technologies in person, Ham visited Google and Nvidia in Silicon Valley in January after touring the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas, accompanied by the group's young employees. The visit was designed to help Hana emerge as Asia's top financial group by learning about the corporate culture of Google as a global tech giant and experiencing the pioneering digital technology of Nvidia as a leader in AI-based computing systems.
| Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, center, poses with Google employees during his visit to Google's futuristic green complex in Silicon Valley, the Bay View campus, Jan. 6. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
To strengthen its financial competitiveness, Hana Financial is looking for ways to expand strategic partnerships and investment opportunities while staying focused on its unique strengths such as foreign exchange, asset management and corporate finance. In particular, the group will put top priority on developing twin growth engines centered on banking and securities and nurturing credit cards, capital and insurance as its core affiliates.
Hana Financial's vision and strategies for sustainable growth will demonstrate its commitment to building an innovative and unique platform that enables everyone to navigate the financial world and creating new financial value based on trust.