Original Article by Korean Newspaper ‘The Bell’, 11th Apr. 2023 https://www.thebell.co.kr/free/content/ArticleView.asp?key=202304061505376000104534

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Doomoolmori, a robo-advisor firm, has appointed a new CEO for its subsidiary, Doomoolmori Investment Advisory. This personnel move between the subsidiary and the parent company appears to be part of the strategic efforts to expand the advisory and robo-advisor businesses.

According to the financial investment industry on the 6th, Doomoolmori Investment Advisory has appointed Lee Seung Kyu, former CIO (Chief Investment Officer) of Doomoolmori, as the new CEO. The previous CEO, Song Rak Hyeon, has moved to the headquarters of Doomoolmori as the Vice President. It can be interpreted that Lee Seung Kyu, who was responsible for actual operations, has transitioned to the investment advisory firm, while Song Rak Hyeon, the CEO, will drive new businesses such as direct indexing at Doomoolmori headquarters.

Doomoolmori Investment Advisory operates as an advisory firm with a decision-making system that combines quantitative methods, AI, financial data analysis methodologies, and financial engineering. The team designing the system can be considered as the actual operating entity.

The newly appointed CEO, Lee Seung Kyu, is a financial engineering expert who graduated from Sungkyunkwan University with a major in statistics. He holds seven patents in the field of financial engineering and asset management. He has been serving as the CIO, overseeing quantitative investment methodologies, financial data analysis, and portfolio management system design at the parent company, Doomoolmori.

Placing him as the new representative of Doomoolmori Investment Advisory reflects the increasing importance of asset management, including expanding the scope of advisory services this year. Doomoolmori Investment Advisory is a house that manages 15,000 advisory accounts and has assets under management of 215 billion won. While previously focusing only on funds and ETFs in their advisory services, they expanded their scope this year by registering as an investment advisory firm, including individual stocks and bonds.

They also plan to provide aggressive advisory services, such as directly selecting individual stocks, in addition to their previous asset allocation-based advisory approach. Recently, they launched a consulting service called "Boolio Alpha," targeting highly aggressive investors in U.S. stocks, with a limited membership of 2,000 individuals. It is a product that maximizes expected returns by targeting small and medium-sized companies among U.S. stocks.

Vice President Song Rak Hyeon leads the strategic division at Doomoolmori headquarters. In particular, he plans to focus on expanding the global presence of the direct indexing business. Direct indexing is a product that deviates from the conventional investment approach where investors either individually select stocks to build their portfolio or trade ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) that track specific indices. It is a service that allows investors to easily create and manage their own ETF-like portfolios based on their investment criteria.