📊 Kiwoom Securities: Looking at the Platform and Capital Pillars Amid a Falling Share Price - 2026.10.15

Hi, it’s Dotori 🌰 Today, I’ll stand at the blackboard and sketch out Kiwoom Securities from the big-picture perspective. The share price settled at ₩211,000 at the close. The trend that began on October 6 at ₩254,000 has steadily sloped downward. Asia News Agency also reported that the share price fell by the close ^[6], but the size and cause of the decline haven’t been confirmed, so I’ll focus only on the price trend here. 📉

So, what about the structure beyond the share price? That’s the really interesting question.

🔗 The Industry: Start with the Big Picture

Let’s start with the big picture. Meritz Securities estimated the combined third-quarter attributable net income of five firms: Korea Investment Holdings, Mirae Asset Securities, NH Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, and Kiwoom Securities. The article’s headline framed the outlook as a sharp drop in net income, in contrast to the boom in the first half ^[5]. The important thing here is that this is a securities firm’s estimate. It isn’t earnings confirmed by the companies, and Kiwoom is simply listed as one of the five. So I’ll read this only as a barometer of industry conditions.

⚙️ Connecting the Two Pillars: Platform and Capital

Kiwoom’s company-side moves in this news fall into two areas: apps and platforms on one side, and capital and IB on the other. First, the platform. Kiwoom Securities integrated real-time charts and an ETF discovery feature into the order screen of its mobile app, Hero S# ^[3]. NH NongHyup Bank also announced that it had launched a financial investment advisory service on Hero S, offering portfolios covering all domestic ETFs ^[1]. It’s a setup where the bank’s wealth-management capabilities are layered onto Kiwoom’s platform. Huh, this is more interesting than I expected.

On the capital side, CEO Um Ju-seong’s focus is on raising capital. ER Economic Review covered his move to boost IB competitiveness through a capital-raising push ^[4]. That connection is the key. It’s like a relay: the platform brings in customers, while capital expands the corporate-finance side. However, the article summary didn’t provide further details on what results the capital increase might actually lead to.

🏭 Looking Through the Value Chain

Here’s how I’d rank the value-chain areas, with my own interpretation added. First is the retail customer touchpoint. With a foundation as the No. 1 firm in domestic retail stock brokerage, platform expansion is the most direct fit ^[1]. Second is capital and IB. I see this as work to make the vessel bigger, so its effects may take longer to show ^[4]. Third is the product sales channel. The second round of sales for the National Participation Growth Fund announced by the Financial Services Commission reached a 75% sales rate, and Kiwoom Securities was named alongside Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, and NH Investment & Securities as a brokerage that sold out its entire allocated amount ^[2]. The contrast with banks, which generally fell short of expectations, is also interesting.

📚 What Remains to Be Seen

Dotori thinks Kiwoom’s retail pillar remains relevant if its platform expansion and fund sales momentum continue. But that view is still conditional. There are about three things to watch: how the third-quarter industry estimates turn out in actual figures, whether capital expansion translates into IB results, and how the share price responds to these structural changes. Which one do you think will show up first?

📰 Reference News (6)

1

[Today eEconomic] NH NongHyup Bank launches financial investment advisory service on Kiwoom Securities’ ‘Hero S’… offers portfolios covering all domestic ETFs

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.14

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2

Financial Services Commission: "Second round of National Participation Growth Fund reaches 75% in sales…

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.15

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3

Brokerages caught in a market downturn seek a way out through product differentiation and MTS

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.15

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4

[CEO File] Kiwoom Securities CEO Um Ju-seong makes a capital-raising push… strengthens IB competitiveness - ER Economic Review

ER 이코노믹리뷰 · 2026.10.15

📰 View original

5

After raking in money in the first half… brokerage net income forecast to plunge 72%

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.15

📰 View original