Steady growth built on experience and trust: iTrust Asset Management

iTrust Asset Management was founded with capital from six securities firms and led by seasoned capital-markets professionals, including Young-key Hwang, former chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association, and Chul-bae Kim, its former executive director. Launched with the goal of becoming a leading name in alternative investments, the firm aims to deliver stable, satisfying returns and believes the company grows through the trust and prosperity of its clients. We sat down with Hanjin Song, Executive Vice President and Compliance Officer at iTrust, whose 35-plus years in asset management span roles as an analyst, fund manager, internal controller and business manager.

Mr. Song majored in business administration at Sogang University and earned a master’s degree in economics. He had once hoped to switch to Korean literature, but after military service he realized finance suited him, and went on to earn a Ph.D. at Kookmin University, building a solid academic foundation. At Korea Investment Management and Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management he held nearly every role an asset manager has to offer: analyst, fund manager, internal audit, operations, fund sales and business management, gaining broad hands-on experience along the way. He has also lectured at Soongsil University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, written NCS textbooks and published books, sustaining a career as an asset management expert for more than 30 years. Today he serves as Compliance Officer at iTrust Asset Management. “I’ve done everything except being the CEO. Getting to experience an executive’s mindset while working in business management at a large asset manager was invaluable to me.”

As Compliance Officer, Mr. Song has always thought about risk on two fronts: legal risk such as disputes and regulatory violations, and risk arising from human error. In his view, risk stemming from processes or manuals should be managed by systems, while risk stemming from intent or carelessness is a matter of organizational culture and leadership. “The only way to build trust with staff is to read what’s on their minds. When a problem comes up, rather than reprimanding them outright, I think it’s important to check whether they’re aware of it, and to point it out clearly if they aren’t.”

Having worked with a variety of FIX systems over more than 35 years in the industry, Mr. Song was convinced from iTrust’s earliest days that a system was essential. Trade instructions sent over messengers can never fully rule out mistakes, so he judged that the entire investment process had to be automated and standardized. Treating a system as a “must-have” rather than an option, he searched for a trustworthy solution and learned of Fincatch through industry contacts. Expecting that a system could take over the monitoring people had been doing by hand and reduce operational risk, he decided to adopt it. “Trading over messenger is far too risky. If a system exists and you don’t use it, carrying that risk just isn’t right. Even if it costs a little, I believed we absolutely had to adopt one.”

Mr. Song does not see compliance as merely policing the rules. His philosophy is that compliance must genuinely help the business and the people on the front line. Rather than acting as the regulator’s proxy with a “get past me” attitude, he stresses that compliance should understand the challenges of investment and sales teams and support them. That philosophy shows in his work. While reviewing a fund’s terms recently, he found language that clients would struggle to understand. Even though the document had already been confirmed by counterparties such as the trustee and distributors and was hard to change, he drafted a clearer version from the investor’s point of view, putting helpful compliance into practice. “If I have a philosophy, it’s compliance that helps. On any given issue, there’s a difference between saying ‘I’ll review it’ and saying ‘I’ll build it for you.’” As someone with more than 35 years in the industry, he also said he values a results-oriented culture built on trust with fewer unnecessary constraints, and a workplace where people understand and respect one another’s differences.

iTrust Asset Management has not posted a single loss-making year in its three and a half years since founding, a rare feat when roughly half of Korea’s 400-odd private asset managers are in the red. A solid shareholder base of six securities firms and a team of trusted industry professionals are its greatest strengths. Having moved past the early stage of stability-driven growth, the firm now aims to scale its assets and, beyond that, to pioneer a distinctive investment model that does not yet exist in the Korean market. “How do we become the leader in this industry? That’s what I’m thinking about now. I want to build an asset management model that doesn’t exist anywhere in Korea, and I’m always working on it with our CEO.” He also recognizes the need for IT capabilities as the firm builds new business models, and expects Fincatch’s IT-driven understanding and execution to complement the areas where the firm is less strong.

Throughout the interview, Mr. Song generously shared his in-depth views on Fincatch’s current services and future direction. Building on those insights, Fincatch will do its best to be a dependable partner as iTrust Asset Management leads the market.