The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“So, you’re saying you want to develop a product for investing in Agrobridge?”

Seo Jeonghwan, Team Leader of Personal Asset Management Team 3 at the Leaders Center, looked at Dokyung and Han Dahyun, who were standing before him, making bold requests.

After the two had been running around seemingly in perfect sync for several days, the report they brought truly surprised him, an 11-year veteran PB.

He had met many new employees as subordinates over the years, but never any newcomers like these two.

“Let’s move to a different location.”

Seo Jeonghwan left the office to avoid disturbing other team members and entered a small conference room.

Sitting down and looking at the two rookies who had followed him, he couldn’t help but sigh. They were looking at him with expectant eyes.

“Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

“Do you know how our company develops personal asset management products?”

Dokyung nodded at Seo Jeonghwan’s question.

“Yes, the Strategic Business and Product Strategy teams in the WM Division conduct market research in the initial stages of product development to concretize the product, and after legal review by the Compliance team, it’s launched.”

Seo Jeonghwan let out a dry laugh at Dokyung’s all-too-competent answer.

“Correct. You understand it so perfectly that I have nothing to add. But here’s the thing.”

Seo Jeonghwan wiped the smile off his face and looked at the two rookies focusing on him.

“Knowing all that, are you requesting new product development for a deal that only has a week left?”

A week was an impossibly short time for developing a new product under the securities firm’s product development procedures.

“It’s physically impossible due to lack of time…”

“I think it might be possible.”

“…What did you say?”

Surprised by the unexpected response to his words, Seo Jeonghwan furrowed his brow and looked at Dokyung.

“In 2017, 2019, and last year, 2020, our center released several specialized products that could only be traded at the Leaders Center.”

Dokyung placed the prepared documents in front of Seo Jeonghwan, who began reading them.

“In 2017, when China’s economy was experiencing tremendous growth, a product was created for VIP clients to invest directly in Chinese stocks, and in 2019, a fund investing in domestic stocks was launched. It’s the product that recorded tremendous returns.”

Seo Jeonghwan nodded at Dokyung’s words as if recalling something.

“And at the end of last year, predicting oil price increases, a small-scale oil investment product was created.”

“That’s right. All three products you mentioned were managed by the Center Director.”

The products in 2017 and 2019 were managed by the previous Center Director, and last year’s product was managed by the current Center Director, Ha Min-jae.

Thanks to that performance, Ha Min-jae was able to receive an enormous bonus at the beginning of this year and become the top earner.

“The Center Director has the authority to develop center-specific products. And they can greatly shorten the procedures mentioned earlier, check if internal regulations were followed, and if the product development bylaws used by the company were adhered to, and then sell the product on a small scale.”

“Is this really the only way?”

Dokyung nodded at Seo Jeonghwan’s question.

For the past three days, Dokyung and Han Dahyun had been pondering how to invest in startups as the client wanted.

“As of now, yes.”

“Have you contacted Agrobridge?”

There were several ways for individual clients to invest in startups.

One was to buy existing shares (shares held by existing shareholders) or stock option rights from executives.

Stock options referred to the right to buy shares at a specific price when the stock is listed on the market in the future.

“Yes, but Agrobridge said they don’t accept individual investments due to management issues.”

It seemed that at this stage, Agrobridge was looking not just for simple monetary investments, but also for assistance needed for the company’s growth, so they preferred institutional investors over individuals.

“Then let’s try contacting venture capital firms.”

“We’ve tried that. We looked into investment products created by venture capital firms, but they all stated they have no intention of investing in Agrobridge.”

Usually, when conducting venture investments like startups through securities firm asset management services, investments are made through venture capital firms.

However, after investigating for the past few days, Dokyung and Han Dahyun found no venture capital firms with products intending to invest in Agrobridge.

It seemed they thought there was no reason to invest in Agrobridge, which was still far from going public, when there were startups about to be listed on the stock market where they could see quick returns.

Moreover, the global economic recession was another reason for hesitating to invest.

“With all methods impossible, we concluded that it would be better to create a fund specifically for Agrobridge and invest directly.”

“And shortening the period is within the Center Director’s authority?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then have you found a proxy who will proceed with the investment if we create a product and gather funds?”

“Yes. Yuseong Venture Investment said they would conduct the proxy investment.”

After deciding to utilize Han Dahyun’s connections for this task, the two had met with Oh Jae-seok at Yuseong Venture Investment.

After internal review at Yuseong Venture Investment, they were positive about acting as an investment proxy and agreed to do so if the clients’ funds were gathered.

“Yuseong Venture Investment…”

Dokyung seemed to have already explored many methods. When those methods appeared unfeasible, he had found a final alternative and brought it to him.

Seo Jeonghwan pondered for a moment, looking at the documents, then tapped the papers with his finger and stood up.

“I’ll go see the Center Director. Return to the office and wait.”

Saying this, Seo Jeonghwan left the conference room, and Dokyung and Han Dahyun bowed with bright smiles.

“Thank you, Team Leader.”

Seo Jeonghwan chuckled, not displeased by the rookies’ gratitude from behind, and headed towards the Center Director’s office.

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“Isn’t Chairman Kwon of Hyunsung Precision your biggest client, Team Leader Seo?”

Meanwhile, Team 3 Leader Seo Jeonghwan had come to the Center Director’s office with a report and was briefing Ha Min-jae.

“That’s correct. This time, Chairman Kwon wanted to invest in startups rather than stocks or bonds, and since it’s a bit beyond my capabilities, I’m thinking of passing it to Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”

Ha Min-jae nodded at Seo Jeonghwan’s words.

“It seems you didn’t take my words lightly.”

Previously, Ha Min-jae had told Seo Jeonghwan that Dokyung was someone who would fly if given wings.

He didn’t doubt it since it was what Ryu Tae-hwa or Vice President Sim Ju-won, whom Ha Min-jae trusted the most, had said.

“Observing him closely, it was just as you said, Center Director. Even when I try to teach him something, Yoon Dokyung-ssi comes up with ideas I hadn’t even thought of. He’s a colleague whose abilities I envy.”

Ha Min-jae chuckled at Seo Jeonghwan’s words.

“When you do this job for a long time, you see quite a few people like that. Eleven years ago, I had such a rookie among the new employees who came under me…”

Seo Jeonghwan bowed his head at Ha Min-jae’s words.

“I think I know that person. He must always be grateful to you, Center Director.”

When everyone was cursing him for his past mistake, Ha Min-jae had guided him to be promoted to team leader.

From when he first met Ha Min-jae as a new employee 11 years ago, to when Ha Min-jae moved to the Leaders Center and offered to take him along.

All these memories came flooding back.

“I see. When that person first brought in a truly enormous amount of assets, I was delighted. Recently, it seemed like his passion for work had cooled, but I guess that was my misunderstanding.”

“Yes, he says his passion has been reignited.”

Ha Min-jae nodded with a smirk at Seo Jeonghwan’s words.

“Good. How much is the investment amount?”

“The entrusted amount is 30 billion won, but excluding the amount tied up in stocks and bonds, he wants to invest 12 billion won.”

“Really… For a single client’s asset scale, it’s quite a large movement. From our perspective, he’s a client we can’t afford to lose.”

“Then…”

“First, since it needs to have the characteristics of a fund, we should attract multiple funds, not just from one person. Let’s aim for a setup amount of 15 billion won. Contact interested clients among Team 3’s customers and try to match 15 billion won.”

At Ha Min-jae’s words, which were as good as approval, Seo Jeonghwan bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. It seems like a good product. Although I’ll make the final approval, if this product succeeds this time, we should make it a regular product.”

Ha Min-jae said this while pointing at the report Seo Jeonghwan had brought.

“What we need to do in startup investments is to invest where others don’t see. I’ve heard a lot about the company mentioned in this report in passing, but I never thought about investing directly.”

This was because agricultural, livestock, and fishery product trading wasn’t immediately apparent.

If one simply viewed Agrobridge’s work as transaction brokerage, it might appear that way, but if they digitized transaction information as written in the report, solved the problem of information asymmetry, and many customers actually turned to Agrobridge, it was no different from innovation.

And one more thing—what Agrobridge was trying to do was something no one else had attempted before, so even if it’s difficult now, if it gets established?

With no competitors, it could grow infinitely. It was no different from an opportunity to invest early in a company that would monopolize transactions before it grew.

“Let’s think of this as a pilot stage to show the headquarters. If this deal is successful, let’s make it a formal product for regular startup investments. And let Team 3 be in charge of that.”

Seo Jeonghwan’s eyes widened at Ha Min-jae’s words. Fund product transactions could leave more commissions than personal asset management services.

There was even a saying going around that “fund product subscriptions are unconditionally profitable for securities firms.”

The larger the setup amount, the more enormous the commissions that fell from it.

Making this product an official one and entrusting it to Team 3 meant…

“This is my support for that person whose passion has been reignited.”

“……”

Seo Jeonghwan bowed his head at Ha Min-jae’s words.

“I’m always grateful.”

Ha Min-jae nodded at Seo Jeonghwan’s greeting and stood up, putting on his jacket.

“Well then, I should go to the headquarters to get approval for this product. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Vice President, and I need to get compliance approval too.”

Ha Min-jae approached Seo Jeonghwan and patted him on the shoulder.

“I don’t want to be disappointed anymore. Let’s do this properly.”

“I’ll work hard.”

Watching Ha Min-jae’s back as he left the Center Director’s office, Seo Jeonghwan bowed his head once more in gratitude.

“We don’t have much time.”

As Ha Min-jae said this and left the room, Seo Jeonghwan raised his head and quickly headed towards Team 3’s office.

As he entered the office, he almost let out a chuckle when he saw the two rookies stand up with expectant looks.

“Yoon Dokyung-ssi, Han Dahyun-ssi.”

“Yes, Team Leader!”

“Prepare to contact Yuseong Venture Investment. We’ve received approval for fund setup. The Center Director has just gone to the headquarters.”

At Seo Jeonghwan’s words, Yoon Dokyung and Han Dahyun looked at each other and clenched their fists.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Seo Jeonghwan sat down and spoke, and everyone’s attention turned to him.

“The fund setup amount is 15 billion won. We need to gather the remaining 3 billion won, so each of you should simultaneously explain the product and recommend it to the clients you’re in charge of.”

Dokyung and Han Dahyun looked surprised at Seo Jeonghwan’s words.

This meant that not only Kwon Eun-ho, who would become Dokyung’s client, but also Han Dahyun’s clients and those managed by other team members would have the opportunity.

This was as good as saying it was an opportunity for the team members as well.

“Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”

“Yes, yes! Team Leader.”

“Create a PDF file of the report and send it to each team member. We don’t have much time.”

“Yes! Understood.”

Saying this, Dokyung sat down and began following Seo Jeonghwan’s instructions, and everyone in Team 3 started moving in unison.