Korea Investment & Securities woos New York with third consecutive 'KIS Night'

Held independently for third consecutive year — a first among Korean financial firms

About 150 senior executives from JPMorgan, Carlyle attend

MOUs signed separately with Fidelity, Pimco and Carlyle

Korea Investment & Securities President Kim Sung-hwan delivers a speech at the KIS Night in New York event. [Korea Investment & Securities]

Korea Investment & Securities announced Sunday that it held "KIS Night in New York 2026," an IR event for senior executives of global financial institutions, in New York on Thursday (local time).

KIS Night is the firm's proprietary IR event designed to expand its cooperation with global financial partners and strengthen its local network.

Since its debut in New York in 2024, the event has expanded to Hong Kong as well, with the New York edition now held as an annual fixture.

Korea Investment & Securities is the only Korean financial firm to independently host such a large-scale global IR event in New York on a consecutive basis. Through sustained engagement, the company has built solid partnerships with leading global investment institutions and generated tangible business collaboration.

This year's event drew about 150 CEOs and senior executives from global financial firms and major investment institutions, including Pimco, JPMorgan, Carlyle, Neuberger Berman and Man Group. President Kim Sung-hwan took the stage as a speaker, highlighting the growth potential of the Korean financial market and Korea Investment & Securities. He also held in-depth discussions with attending firms on business expansion and strategic cooperation opportunities.

In his welcoming remarks, Kim said the company "is growing rapidly on the strength of a powerful network with global partners and is cementing a solid presence not only in Korea but across Asian markets." He added that the firm would "continue to join hands with partners possessing diverse financial capabilities to offer differentiated business opportunities to investors at home and abroad."

Attendees pose for a group photo at the KIS Night in New York event held Thursday (local time). From left: George Walker, chairman and CEO of Neuberger Berman; Greg Bond, CIO and head of the Americas at Man Group; Kim Sung-hwan, president of Korea Investment & Securities; and Jeff Nedelman, co-president of Carlyle. [Korea Investment & Securities]

George Walker, chairman and CEO of Neuberger Berman, said Korea Investment & Securities' "aggressive global investment moves in recent years have been very impressive," adding that he looks forward to "expanding cooperation from alternative investments to the supply of quality retail products, so that both companies can achieve global growth together."

Greg Bond, CIO and head of the Americas at Man Group, and Jeff Nedelman, co-president of Carlyle, also said retail product supply and long-term cooperation to date had laid the groundwork for successful results and mutual growth. They expressed their intention to support Korea Investment & Securities in its bid to emerge as a leading Asian financial institution through new product launches and an expansion of areas of cooperation.

Korea Investment & Securities has been steadily expanding its financial footprint through strategic alliances with global firms. It signed an MOU with Fidelity on Monday and separate MOUs with Pimco and Carlyle on Wednesday, aimed at strengthening cooperation on expanding the supply of global financial products, co-investment and the provision of global research.

Through these partnerships, Korea Investment & Securities said it aims to go beyond simply adopting the expertise of global financial firms and instead reinforce a global business model that connects that expertise directly to customers through products, research and wealth management. The company noted that such global partnerships are considered a core pillar of its wealth management competitiveness.

Korea Investment & Securities has also established cooperative ties with other prominent global institutions, including JPMorgan, Stifel Financial and China's Guotai Junan Securities. Building on those relationships, the firm has been accelerating efforts to enhance its retail services, including offering exclusive access to global research content through its mobile trading system.

Underpinning the firm's ability to forge partnerships on equal footing with global major players is its strong financial foundation. In the first half of this year, the company posted operating profit of 2.17 trillion won ($1.62 billion) on a consolidated basis, up 89.1 percent from the same period last year, while net profit for the period rose 68.9 percent to 1.73 trillion won. The firm surpassed in just half a year the 2 trillion won annual operating profit threshold it became the first in the domestic securities industry to achieve last year.

jiyun@heraldcorp.com