이 기사는 2020년 01월 16일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

People who know Kang Dae-kwon, chief investment officer (CIO) of Ryukyung PSG Asset Management, dub him a ‘genius.’ Among many star fund managers with high returns, Kang is certainly one of the few who has rebuilt and led a house for a long time. It is not too much to say that the brand value of Ryukyung is created by Kang.

Early career at Korea Value Asset Management

Kang is one of the famous value investors in South Korea’s financial services industry. He started stock trading at college, which made him get to know about value investing, and began his career as a fund manager at Korea Value Asset Management.

Kang started to understand the importance of value investing when he was at college. He entered Seoul National University in 1999, when the dotcom bubble was inflating. Participated in a student stock trading competition with his colleagues, Kang won the competition by recording a return of more than 70 percent in just six months. The key to winning was to invest in a particular stock by misinterpreting preference shares as blue-chip shares.

Of course, he wouldn’t have stuck to value investing if his investment has only been a success ever since his accidental victory. After that day, Kang began investing in the stock market, but his money just disappeared due to the dotcom bubble burst. Looking at his empty bank account, he thought that ‘investment that makes money quickly can harm the society.’ He reinforced that thought when learning value investing at SNU’s stock research group, Midas Investment Club (SMIC). This is why he has aimed to generate a 10 percent return per annum, in the investment management industry where a relative return counts.

At the end of 2007, Kang got a job at Korea Value Asset Management through the firm’s first open recruitment. “Shortly after I got into the firm, I had to go through the 2008 financial crisis, which reinforced my conservative asset management style,” said Kang.

In 2013, he became the managing director of KIVAM Korea Value Fund, an off-shore fund in Luxemburg, generating around 23 percent of return in the same year.

Ryukyung PSG Asset Management

2014 was the year when Kang established his presence in the financial investment industry.

In 2014, Kang was hired by Ryukyung (formerly Dream Asset Management) as the youngest CIO of the firm’s history. Because most CIOs were in their 40s and 50s at that time, it was natural that the decision put a spotlight on Kang, who was born in 1980. Dream Asset Management, which had no distinct character of its own yet, made an unprecedented decision to hire him as the CIO, with the firm changing its name to Ryukyung.

Since he moved to Ryukyung, Kang has been acting as the managing director of three funds - Ryukyung PSG Active Value, Ryukyung PSG Active Value 30, Ryukyung PSG Good Thinking Asset Allocation.

Ryukyung PSG Active Value Fund – formerly Dream Mega Trend – which was formed in 2007 had experienced fluctuations until 2014. After becoming the managing director of the fund, he replaced its portfolio, which made the fund record a return of 7.3 percent in 2014, 8.2 percent in 2015, 11.8 percent in 2016 and 10.9 percent in 2017.

In addition, he could create synergies from fund managers by a compensation system inspired by the online streaming giant Netflix. “I made each team to have individual independent assessment system and tried to evaluate them in accordance with the market value, and I think it worked,” said Kang.

Transforming to a multiplayer

Funds under his management have had tough time generating returns over the past two years. Ryukyung PSG Active Value Fund recorded minus 15 percent in 2018 and minus five percent as of December 24 of 2019. The size of the fund, which was as large as 30 billion won in 2017, dropped to 10 billion won level.

Other funds are in the same situation as well. Ryukyung PSG Good Thinking Asset Allocation Fund has suffered negative returns for the last two years and the fund size is standing at 34 billion won. For Ryukyung PSG Active Value 30 Fund, the loss was relatively smaller as bonds account for more than 50 percent of the fund.

Kang’s management style has made a turn from value investing over the past two years. This contrasts with legendary value investors who take long-term investing strategies and stick to original method of stock selection. Up until now, Kang is living in a monthly rented housing, pouring all of his assets into funds.

“Kang has showed a lot of curiosity in all sorts of things since he was in college. He responds flexibly to changes in the world, so sometimes I think he would have created a venture company if he didn’t become a manager,” an acquaintance of his said.

Ryukyung established its alternative investment department in 2017 to diversify the business portfolio. Kang also is paying attention to assets besides stocks, including derivatives.

“I have managed my funds largely based on traditional value investing style, thus far. However, the strategy isn’t working anymore, with market conditions changing. I am trying different methods to survive in the passive-focused market,” said Kang.

(By reporter Seo Jung-eun)