The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“Give me yesterday’s Fed meeting minutes.”

“How did the dot plot turn out?”

A week later, Dokyung entered the newly assigned Yuseong Investment Securities Wrap Account Team 1 office.

At a time when employees at other companies might not have arrived yet, this place was already bustling with many team members hard at work.

To exaggerate a bit, it resembled a bustling marketplace, likely due to a major event that had significantly impacted the global economy the previous day.

However, to Dokyung’s eyes, this didn’t look strange at all. Rather, he found their efforts to respond to changes admirable.

“So this is what headquarters is like…”

A week ago, Dokyung had pondered over two documents placed before him.

One contained details of his assignment to his current location, while the other was a recruitment offer from KFSG, proposed by Kang Sung-ho.

Dokyung spent a long time deliberating on what would be best for him, but reaching a conclusion was surprisingly easy.

He recalled the day he decided to become a fund manager.

‘Just as gold ore doesn’t shine doesn’t mean it’s not gold. I want to find companies that will sparkle for many people and introduce them.’

Of course, he could do this at KFSG too, but Dokyung, who had been feeling a great sense of fulfillment from direct communication with clients, thought he should go to the Wrap Account department.

Being here meant he had headquarters’ permission to continue operating the group chat he had created for his managed clients.

He thought it would be good to gain experience by maintaining the group chat to understand what clients want.

“Let’s focus.”

Dokyung, after observing their behavior, regained his focus and looked around the office. He spotted a familiar face and approached him.

“Yes, for now, all the published materials from the Research Center…”

The other person, seemingly busy due to yesterday’s event, was making calls while staring at his monitor screen.

Dokyung quietly waited for him to finish his call.

“Yes, please do that. Yes. Thank you.”

The man who hung up the phone let out a long sigh with a “Whew…” and rubbed his face.

“Hello?”

Hearing someone greet him, the man turned his head towards the voice.

“Oh.”

“I’m Yoon Dokyung, assigned to Wrap Account Team 1 starting today.”

As Dokyung introduced himself with a bow, the man stood up with a smile.

“It’s been a while.”

“Part Leader, it’s good to see you again.”

The person greeting Dokyung was Seo Yong-won, the leader of Wrap Account Team 1.

Seo Yong-won and Dokyung were acquainted from the company’s mock investment competition.

“I never expected we’d meet again here like this.”

At Seo Yong-won’s words, Dokyung slightly bowed his head.

“It’s an honor to learn from you, Part Leader.”

“Haha, honor might be too much… Anyway, the department atmosphere seems a bit chaotic, doesn’t it?”

“Not at all. I understand. With yesterday’s big event, I imagine any team would look the same.”

Nodding at Dokyung’s words, Seo Yong-won continued.

“We’re not like this every day, so I hope you don’t misunderstand.”

Seo Yong-won said this and then clapped his hands loudly.

Clap clap clap-

As he clapped to get everyone’s attention, all team members turned to look at Seo Yong-won and Dokyung.

“As I mentioned a few days ago, starting today, we have a new employee joining our team.”

Some looked at Dokyung with dry expressions, as if he were an unwelcome guest during their busy time, while others smiled with interest.

“I’m sure everyone knows him?”

Seo Yong-won said this while looking at Dokyung, signaling him to introduce himself. Receiving the cue, Dokyung faced forward and bowed 90 degrees.

“Hello, I’m Yoon Dokyung, joining Wrap Account Team 1 from today. I’ll always do my best. Please take care of me.”

A small round of applause followed Dokyung’s greeting.

“Let’s see… Manager Hong.”

Seo Yong-won called out to an employee.

“Yes, Part Leader.”

“The reason we brought Yoon Dokyung-ssi to our team is that we needed more personnel for macro checks, and Yoon Dokyung-ssi has arrived.”

Dokyung bowed to greet the manager who approached him.

“Manager Hong, please take him and teach him about the work.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Well then, Yoon Dokyung-ssi, I’ll create opportunities for you to get to know the other employees later. Let’s start with work right away.”

Seo Yong-won spoke as if telling him to go, and Dokyung bowed before following the man called Manager Hong.

“This is your desk, Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”

The man who stopped in front of Dokyung’s desk looked at him.

Dokyung glanced at the employee ID hanging around the man’s neck.

It read Hong Se-jun.

“We’re a bit busy today, so we’ll have to start work right away. Is that okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Everyone is checking the U.S. situation right now, so Dokyung-ssi, please look at the Asian market. From yesterday’s situation.”

“When you say Asian market…”

Dokyung cautiously asked in response to Hong Se-jun’s brusque words.

Furrowing his brow briefly at Dokyung’s question, Hong Se-jun began rummaging through papers scattered on the desk next to him.

It seemed that the adjacent desk was Hong Se-jun’s workspace.

“This is the list of markets we broker.”

Dokyung received the document handed by Hong Se-jun and checked it, his expression turning to surprise.

The Wrap Account team was investing in markets from South Korea to China, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

In other words, Dokyung would have to prepare macro data for six countries.

“Please prepare yesterday’s macro data for the Asian countries listed there. We usually start the meeting at 8 o’clock, so…”

At Hong Se-jun’s words, both his and Dokyung’s eyes simultaneously turned to the clock on the wall.

“We have 30 minutes left.”

Hong Se-jun said this and sat down, while Dokyung, standing with a troubled expression, immediately sat at his desk and booted up his computer.

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“Let’s begin.”

Inside the Wrap Account team’s office, there was a separate large conference room. All team members were present, and as Part Leader Seo Yong-won entered, the meeting commenced.

Dokyung got to see the team members here, and Wrap Account Team 1 consisted of fifteen people, including himself.

As the name “Wrap Account” suggests, it was a team responsible for comprehensive asset management.

There were various types of wrap accounts, including branch discretionary, headquarters-operated, and advisory. While branch discretionary accounts were operated by PBs for high-net-worth individuals, headquarters-operated accounts ranged widely from as low as 1 million won to several hundred million won.

“Actually, before we start, Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”

At Seo Yong-won’s call, Dokyung, who had been sitting in a chair against the wall, stood up.

At the central conference table sat Part Leader Seo Yong-won and four middle managers, while the rest were seated in chairs along the wall.

“How much do you know about our department?”

At Seo Yong-won’s question, Dokyung opened his mouth.

“I understand it’s a department that manages accounts entrusted by clients. Particularly, it invests not just in stocks but also allocates assets into bonds and…”

“That’s correct.”

Seo Yong-won nodded and continued.

“In particular, our Team 1 manages a product called Yuseong Masters Wrap.”

Part Leader Seo Yong-won began introducing the department as if this was the opportunity.

“The product we manage has a minimum subscription amount of 20 million won. And we work on growing clients’ assets through appropriate asset allocation investments tailored to their preferences.”

In other words, they managed client accounts by investing in domestic and foreign stocks, bonds, and derivatives.

Accounts were divided into high-yield pursuit and low-risk pursuit types based on client preferences.

“Usually, there aren’t many daily actions that require immediate response, but when there are big events in the U.S. like yesterday, we need to act proactively. Recently, due to economic difficulties, daily actions have become more frequent. That’s why Yoon Dokyung-ssi was immediately put to work. Here, you have to prove your own abilities. We don’t have the luxury to look after you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good. Let’s start the meeting.”

As Dokyung sat down, the lights in the conference room dimmed, and a briefing on the previous day’s market conditions and client account returns began.

“Next is the Asian market, Manager Hong…”

“Yoon Dokyung-ssi prepared the Asian market report.”

As Hong Se-jun said this, all eyes turned to Dokyung.

There was no surprise at the fact that someone newly assigned today had prepared materials right after arriving. It was simply expected here.

Their gazes seemed to suggest that, as Part Leader Seo Yong-won had said, they had no intention of carrying anyone who fell behind.

Dokyung took a deep breath, connected the USB memory containing his materials to the laptop, and began his briefing.

“Yesterday, the stock market indices of all Asian markets we broker, including our country, fell.”

However, Dokyung was well-versed in such briefings.

And he was confident in keeping up with global macroeconomic trends.

“It seems that there was a lot of trading to close positions before the U.S. interest rate hike announcement early this morning.”

Dokyung continued his briefing, looking at everyone.

“In particular, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the Chinese market showed a larger decline compared to our market or the Japanese market. It appears to be a trend of foreign capital withdrawing en masse as recent Chinese economic conditions have been showing increasingly negative signals.”

Saying this, Dokyung moved to the next slide.

“The signals of the Chinese economic crisis are worsening, with concerns about real estate prices in China emerging alongside the strengthening of the dollar due to U.S. interest rate hikes and high inflation issues worldwide.”

Team members looked at the newcomer Dokyung’s briefing with interest.

“Real estate, in particular, is no less than a major pillar of the Chinese economy. This is because the real estate industry accounts for one-third of China’s economic production.”

“What’s the reason for the contraction in the real estate industry?”

Seo Yong-won threw a question as if wanting to see how Dokyung would handle it.

“The prevailing view is that it’s due to the Chinese government’s zero-COVID policy. Frequent city lockdowns and regulations have hit workers’ incomes. As income decreased, the money that should have been directed towards the investment market has diminished.”

“So the government’s policy was the starting point?”

“Yes. As a result, the real estate market has contracted, and if this trend continues, it could have a chain reaction effect.”

“Then can we say that the government’s policy is the problem?”

At Seo Yong-won’s question, Dokyung shook his head.

“I won’t make such value judgments. I’m just saying that the policy was the starting point.”

At Dokyung’s words, Seo Yong-won chuckled. It wasn’t the first time the stock market had been affected by policymakers.

Rather than making value judgments about policies, it was the job of market participants to accurately understand the situation and discuss countermeasures.

Complaints about policies were a matter for later.

“In China, about 70% of personal assets are in real estate. And the method is to pay money in advance while housing construction is underway.”

“So instead of installments, real estate buyers pay the construction companies first?”

“That’s correct. This pre-sale method accounts for over 80% of the market. As demand for real estate has recently decreased, real estate development companies are struggling with funding shortages and are unable to repay their debts. A representative example is the default crisis of the Evergrande Group last year.”

In summary, while the real estate industry contributes greatly to economic growth, the industry’s decline means China’s economy is also at risk.

“As these crises continue to surface, we’re seeing foreign investors steadily withdrawing from China.”

“Then what’s your investment opinion on China, Yoon Dokyung-ssi?”

“I believe it’s currently a time to observe. There’s no reason to invest first in a place that hasn’t shown a bottom yet. If the Chinese government recognizes the importance of the real estate industry, they will likely come up with some kind of stimulus measures. I think it’s not too late to judge investments after the announcement of stimulus measures.”

“Good. That was a good analysis.”

At Seo Yong-won’s words, Dokyung took a deep breath as if trying to relax and sat down.

As the meeting ended and everyone began heading back to their seats one by one, Part Leader Seo Yong-won called out to one person.

“Manager Hong.”

Hong Se-jun, called by Seo Yong-won, followed him.

“Did Yoon Dokyung-ssi really prepare that presentation this morning?”

“Yes. I only told him about the Asian market this morning.”

At Hong Se-jun’s answer, Seo Yong-won looked at Dokyung with curiosity.

“What do you think, Manager Hong?”

“About what…”

“You’ve been researching the Chinese market daily. What do you think of Yoon Dokyung-ssi’s presentation?”

“I understand why you’re asking me, Part Leader, but my opinion is the same as yours.”

At Hong Se-jun’s words, Seo Yong-won chuckled.

“He’s good, isn’t he?”

“Yes. It seems we can breathe a sigh of relief.”

As Hong Se-jun answered, Seo Yong-won nodded with a smile.

“Then let’s have Manager Hong focus on the U.S. and Asian markets, and let’s assign Europe to Yoon Dokyung-ssi. Is that okay?”

“Yes. Europe was the most troublesome part for me, so if Yoon Dokyung-ssi takes charge of that area, it should make things easier.”

“Good. Let’s do that.”

At Seo Yong-won’s words, Hong Se-jun bowed and returned to his seat. Seo Yong-won, sitting at his desk, smiled as he watched Dokyung concentrating on his work, seemingly thinking that a quite useful team member had joined.