Samsung Securities

Samsung Securities is a large brokerage house built around retail wealth management (WM) and equity brokerage, complemented by investment banking (IB) and principal trading.

At the end of the second quarter of 2026, retail client assets stood at KRW 652.4 trillion and clients with at least KRW 100 million in assets numbered 572,000.

Within wealth management, net wrap-account fees rose 52.1% quarter on quarter to KRW 49.5 billion and retirement pension assets under custody grew 20.7% to KRW 28.1 trillion.

The IB division posted KRW 90.6 billion, up 26.1% from the previous quarter, on the back of KRW 79.4 billion in structured finance revenue, and completed the Chaevi and Justec IPOs as well as the Hugel acquisition financing deal.

Brokerage income comes from both domestic and overseas trading; 2025 brokerage commissions were reported at KRW 811.7 billion, ahead of KB Securities at KRW 743.9 billion and NH Investment & Securities at KRW 710.5 billion.

In overseas brokerage commission share as of the third quarter of 2025, Mirae Asset Securities led with 15.9%, followed by Kiwoom Securities at 9.5% and Samsung Securities at 9.3%.

Separate-basis shareholders' equity was KRW 7.6445 trillion at end-2025, placing it among the eight comprehensive financial investment business operators with equity above KRW 4 trillion.

However, Samsung Securities was the only one of those eight without a short-term note issuance license, having lost its earlier bid after a partial business suspension tied to a 2018 dividend processing incident.

More recently it partnered with global online broker Interactive Brokers to launch an omnibus account aimed at widening foreign investors' access to Korean equities.

Annual consolidated operating profit rose for three straight years: KRW 578.1 billion in 2022, KRW 741.1 billion in 2023, KRW 1.2058 trillion in 2024 and KRW 1.3757 trillion in 2025.

Net profit attributable to owners followed the same path, from KRW 422.4 billion to KRW 547.4 billion, KRW 899.0 billion and KRW 1.0072 trillion, exceeding KRW 1 trillion for the first time in 2025, with the company citing brokerage-led margin improvement.

The quarterly trend is even clearer: operating profit went from KRW 308.7 billion in the second quarter of 2025 to KRW 401.8 billion in the third and KRW 330.6 billion in the fourth, then KRW 609.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and KRW 675.8 billion in the second, and the company said second-quarter operating profit was up 10.9% quarter on quarter and 119.0% year on year.

Net profit attributable to owners dipped to KRW 215.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 before rebounding to KRW 450.9 billion and KRW 488.2 billion in the first two quarters of 2026, so the last four reported quarters sum to KRW 1.4632 trillion, already above the full-year 2025 figure.

For the second quarter the company pointed to a wider client base in wealth management, strong financial product sales and structured finance results in investment banking.

On the balance sheet, total equity was KRW 8.068 trillion and total liabilities KRW 71.6152 trillion at end-2025, for a debt-to-equity ratio of 887.6% versus 750.2% in 2024, reflecting how customer deposits, borrowings and trading positions sit on the liability side in this industry.

Operating cash flow swung to negative KRW 5.3238 trillion in 2025 from positive KRW 1.3435 trillion in 2024, an item driven largely by shifts in trading assets and funding structure rather than by earnings quality.

On costs, the education tax rate increase applied from this year (0.5% to 1.0%) is a sector-wide burden that was masked by strong first-half results but becomes visible as turnover falls.

On dividends, total payout for fiscal 2025 rose 14.27% year on year with a payout ratio of 35.42%, meeting the 'effort type' criteria for separate taxation of dividend income.

The brokerage industry rode a surge in trading volumes through the first half of 2026. First-half consolidated net profit at the ten largest securities firms by equity jumped 129.06% to KRW 10.2697 trillion from KRW 4.4834 trillion a year earlier. The backdrop changed from the third quarter.

August daily average KOSPI turnover fell to KRW 25.7531 trillion, about half the monthly peak of KRW 50.3471 trillion recorded in June.

On SK Securities' tally, total daily average turnover in August was KRW 67.2 trillion, down 32.5% from KRW 99.5 trillion in July, with single-stock leveraged ETF turnover collapsing to KRW 900 billion in August after new rules took effect. Rates moved the other way too.

The Bank of Korea raised its base rate from 2.75% to 3.00% in August, a second consecutive hike after July, lifting funding costs while cash on the sidelines rotates into safer assets. SK Securities cut its full-year daily turnover forecast by 5.8%, from KRW 101.3 trillion to KRW 95.5 trillion.

Sector share prices reflected this: the KRX Securities index fell 14.79% between July 1 and August 31, giving back much of its 42.73% first-half gain.

Competition is shifting toward overseas equities and capital-deployment businesses, and the short-term note market will expand to eight players once Samsung Securities joins, with first-quarter funding by the seven incumbents at KRW 54.4 trillion, up 6.1% from end-2025.

The most imminent variable is the short-term note license. Samsung Securities' application cleared the Financial Services Commission's agenda subcommittee on September 3 and is reported as likely to be finalized at a regular meeting early this month.

The FSC had earlier set the sanction over improper sales practices at wealth management flagship branches at an institutional warning, easing the disqualification risk implied by the heavier penalty proposed by the Financial Supervisory Service.

If approved, the firm could raise funds up to 200% of its equity, giving it room to expand capital-based businesses such as bond underwriting, corporate lending, acquisition finance and structured finance. Conditions come attached.

Licensees must channel 25% of the funds raised into venture capital-type risk assets, including innovative and start-up companies, by 2028.

The competitive setting is demanding as well: with one-year rates around the high-3% to 4% range, rising bank deposit rates driven by policy tightening could erode the relative yield appeal of these notes, and how much of the existing wealth management client base converts into demand will shape early market share.

On the second-half earnings question, Jeon Bae-seung of LS Securities said the key is whether other trading gains and investment banking revenue can offset declining brokerage and wealth management fees.

On the retail side, margin loan balances fell to KRW 27.4 trillion in early August before rebounding on a daily basis, while the actual earnings contribution from the omnibus account will hinge on the scale of foreign inflows and the stability of local market volatility.