| Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) Chairman Seo Yoo-seok / Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
More than a dozen leaders of local securities firms embarked for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Sunday, to inspect potential business opportunities and risk factors in real estate markets in the region.
Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) Chairman Seo Yoo-seok will accompany a group of 17 CEOs from local brokerage houses for the seven-day overseas business tour. The event is part of the New Portfolio Korea (NPK) program operated by the association. KOFIA has annually held the event with top management of securities firms here, but it was temporarily suspended for two years from 2020 during the pandemic era.
The group will visit Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland, and meet with officials from the country's industrial development authority. They will receive a briefing on how more and more global companies are setting up their European headquarters in Dublin.
The delegation will then have a meeting with officials from real estate service companies ― Savills and Hines ― and exchange opinions on the potential risk factors in the European real estate market. They will also have a field inspection on major commercial properties in Dublin and seek possible opportunities there.
From Ireland, they will move to London for meetings with various global asset management firms such as PGIM, M&G Investments and Next Energy Capital, according to KOFIA. Both sides will share their insight on the next global investment paradigm and seek potential business partnerships. The Korean securities leaders are also scheduled to meet with officials from the London Stock Exchange and Equities First to find opportunities for new global businesses.
"This year's NPK will be a good chance for us to check whether Dublin and London can serve as an important bridgehead for Korean financial firms to expand their presence in Europe," Seo said. The NSK is aimed at encouraging more local financial firms to jump into the global market by catching up with the latest global investment trends. The program temporarily resumed last year to only some countries including the United States due to then-prevalent entry restrictions abroad.
In April, a group of 15 leaders of local asset management firms also traveled to Paris in France to monitor escalating uncertainties in European commercial properties whose vacancy rates are on the rise after the European Central Bank pushed for hawkish rate hikes. The asset management leaders are also scheduled to travel to the U.S. in the latter half of 2023 on business.