An investment seminar takes place at the headquarters of Samsung Securities. (image: Samsung Securities)
SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) — With the novel coronavirus outbreak hampering all private investor seminars and investment counseling by securities companies, investment content published on YouTube and other online programs is gaining popularity.
The web seminar on investment strategy conducted by Mirae Asset Global Investments, South Korea’s leading asset management firm on April 27 recorded 2,800 applicants and 1,280 simultaneous log-ins.
After the company opened its first web seminar in June of last year, the number of users had only reached 200 to 300 by the end of the year, but the number began to exceed 1,000 in January when the COVID-19 spread began.
Mirae Asset’s investment web seminar will be conducted by fund managers explaining their investment strategies on YouTube live channels two to three times a month.
Meanwhile, Kiwoom Securities’ online investment education program is also seeing a sharp increase in the number of applicants from 5,063 in December last year to 7,822 in February after the coronavirus outbreak.
Furthermore, YouTube investment channels operated by the research centers of securities firms have also seen a noticeable increase in the number of views recently.
Most of the investment information videos uploaded over the past week on YouTube channel, “Hana TV” of Hana Financial Investment, Hana Financial Group’s brokerage subsidiary, surpassed 10,000 views in just two to three days.
Since mid-February, each securities firm has suspended offline investment seminars after the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea surged.
Individual investors receive investment counseling through private banking (PB) or attend seminars often held at securities branches to get detailed investment information.
However, as face-to-face meetings are restricted, securities companies are opting for an online method as an alternative.
With this growing trend, the industry hopes that an online seminar culture will be established by boosting online investment content.
“We hope that online seminars will also be activated from the company’s perspective as they are less expensive and can provide information to more investors,” said Jeon Jin-hyuk, head of the digital marketing division at Mirae Asset Global Investments.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
