Investing grounded in trust and fundamentals: Cross Asset Management

Cross Asset Management pursues consistent results by focusing on fundamentals even as market uncertainty grows. Manager Dongyeon Lee, who runs day-to-day operations, proposed adopting Fincatch himself to improve operational efficiency and risk management. We talked with him about his investment philosophy, his views on the industry, and how Fincatch is used on the front line.

“When people ask what I do, I say I’m someone who does stocks. So naturally my goal is to get better at investing in them.” Mr. Lee started investing in stocks at 20 and has experienced the market first-hand for about 12 years, making him a hands-on portfolio manager. At his first company he tried countless strategies in a trading-driven environment. Over time he settled on the investment style and way of thinking that suited him, and today he manages real funds at an asset manager. Since joining Cross Asset Management he has managed public funds and a KOSDAQ venture fund. His philosophy weighs disciplined, fundamentals-based investing, processes that reduce risk, and a sense of responsibility for client assets above short-term results, judgments grounded in practical experience.

After joining Cross Asset Management, Mr. Lee found that the firm had not yet adopted a trading system and proposed Fincatch himself, having used it at his previous employer. “When I joined we had to place orders manually through the broker’s HTS, which was inconvenient. So I asked to bring in this OMS called Fincatch. A manager at my previous company had said it was convenient, which is how I started using it, and it really was.” He named three main advantages of Fincatch. First, preventing naked short selling. With manual HTS orders there was a structural risk of ordering shares the fund did not hold. He recognized the risk and asked brokers about it, but there was no real solution. Adopting Fincatch, whose ordering is based on actual holdings, blocked that risk at the system level. As a result, order mistakes are prevented at the source and operations are more stable and reliable. Second, the compliance feature. Securities that would breach preset investment rules can be registered so that an order simply cannot be executed. He values how this makes the compliance officer’s review process more efficient. Third, flexibility in handling orders. Previously, amending an order meant a manual request each time, and work stalled whenever someone stepped away. In Fincatch, cancellations and amendments are handled in the system, which makes things far more convenient.

One feature Mr. Lee finds especially useful in daily work is the real-time fund NAV view. It has become one of the screens he keeps open almost all the time. Previously, a fund’s NAV could only be checked after settlement, and it was often hard to know the exact figure during the day. In Fincatch the NAV updates in real time to reflect the day’s trades, which he says is useful for adjusting that day’s strategy. “You usually can’t know the NAV until after the close. But Fincatch reflects it almost in real time, so I keep that screen open pretty much always.”

Mr. Lee’s investment philosophy is simple: buy good companies at good prices and wait. Although he once worked at a trading-oriented firm, he became convinced that value-based investing suits him best. He particularly favors entering when market sentiment has broken and valuations are depressed, then waiting for the company’s intrinsic value to be re-rated. A prime example is his 2024 investment in entertainment stocks. When negative news around major companies such as HYBE and YG dragged the sector down, he invested on the basis of an analysis of the industry’s structure as well as future growth drivers such as the resumption of concerts and the economic moats of Korean entertainment companies, and delivered returns above the industry average. “My approach is to buy good companies at good prices and wait.” His perspective extends beyond individual stocks to the structure of asset management itself. He argues that small asset managers deserve more attention. As some large firms grow, they inevitably have to spread portfolios across many stocks, and having to analyze and decide on more names naturally lowers performance somewhat compared with a smaller book, capping returns. Because of that structural trait, capable but little-known small managers have the flexibility to deliver higher expected returns. His view of performance cycles is also notable. Even a proven manager can have a weak year or two, and that may in fact be the moment to enter a fund. This shows a multidimensional philosophy that goes beyond simple bargain-hunting to consider fund structure, industry cycles and investor psychology.

Mr. Lee’s long-term goal is to one day found his own asset manager. But rather than simply starting a company, he intends to begin only when he is prepared enough to earn investors’ trust. His words carried both confidence in his results and a deep awareness of the weight and responsibility that come with managing other people’s money. “Once my investing builds up enough seed capital, I’d like to start a company. I don’t want to manage money beyond my ability, so I’ll probably start with funds from people close to me.” Drawing on front-line experience to think about better systems while holding to a fundamentals-based investment philosophy, Mr. Lee brought a practitioner’s realism, a manager’s responsibility and an investor’s perspective to this interview. Fincatch will continue as a partner as he and Cross Asset Management grow into a trusted asset manager and bring healthy change to the market.