NOVEL WEB 1
“Dokyung-ssi, come here for a moment.”
“Yes? Yes…”
The morning at Yuseong Securities’ Seongnam branch always began the same way.
The heavy-bottomed branch manager would personally come out to the counter and take away one employee. The surrounding staff, as if it were a common occurrence, paid no attention and busied themselves with their own tasks.
“How many product accounts did you open yesterday?”
The branch manager’s voice was full of irritation.
There was a time when Dokyung naively thought that even this person wouldn’t want to start the day like this, scolding someone first thing in the morning.
“I opened two…”
“Sigh, how many did I say was this year’s quota for individual discretionary products from headquarters?”
Before Dokyung could finish, the branch manager interrupted with a deep sigh.
“Fifty, sir.”
“Let’s see, you said you sold two yesterday, so you still have over 40 left? Other employees have already sold more than 20, why are you so far behind?”
“Well…”
“Customers refused, customers didn’t want it, customers coming to the counter weren’t interested.”
The branch manager rattled off excuses as if he already knew what Dokyung would say.
“You should avoid answers like these, right? Other employees achieved their sales targets under the same conditions.”
“…”
Dokyung was at a loss for words.
It seemed the branch manager had no intention of listening to what Dokyung had to say from the start.
Dokyung thought he should have gotten used to this by now, but today, the branch manager’s irritated voice seemed particularly grating.
“…I explained various products to the customers, comparing them.”
“Comparing? Just tell them the advantages! Only the advantages!”
After hesitating for a while, Dokyung clenched his fists and began to voice the thoughts he had been harboring.
“Even when I explain the advantages, customers are not satisfied. I thought recommending discretionary products to customers expecting direct investment and high returns wasn’t in their best interest.”
Frankly speaking, people looking to invest in safe products with guaranteed principal would head to bank or insurance company counters, not here to Yuseong Securities.
As customers, it would be more beneficial for them to create investment products at their main bank.
In this era where stock investments can be made online, those who take the trouble to visit a securities firm counter are mostly customers unfamiliar with online transactions and investments.
Ignoring the tendencies of such customers, the branch manager had been instructing push-style sales for the sake of performance.
“…What did you say?”
The branch manager asked Dokyung again, wondering if he had heard wrong.
Dokyung, who usually just bowed his head and apologized when scolded, was now rebutting his words for some reason today.
“Look here, Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”
“Yes, Branch Manager.”
Dokyung raised his head and looked straight at the branch manager.
“What you should be thinking about is not the customer, but the company, the company!”
“…”
“Didn’t you say you applied to Seonjin and Taesan Securities before coming here and got rejected?”
Dokyung couldn’t respond as the branch manager hit a sore spot.
“If Yuseong hired someone like you, with just an average academic background who got rejected from various securities firms, shouldn’t you be loyal to the company?”
“…”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Am I wrong?”
“…You’re right.”
“Then why are you working with that attitude? Do you think it’s easy for me to call you every morning and talk to you like this?”
The branch manager’s specialty of coaxing and cajoling came out.
At first, Dokyung thought the branch manager was doing this for his sake, but that wasn’t the case.
‘That Yoon Dokyung, he’s really good at work, but he’s terrible at social skills. I need to get rid of him soon.’
‘Is your nephew still preparing?’
‘Yeah, I need to get Yoon Dokyung out quickly so I can recommend my nephew or something…’
Unintentionally, Dokyung had once overheard the branch manager’s true thoughts in the bathroom, and he realized that the branch manager wasn’t looking out for him, but was actually tormenting him to drive him out.
“I’m sorry.”
Dokyung lowered his tail, thinking that confronting the branch manager would only benefit him.
“You should be sorry! The monthly salary you’re receiving is what new graduates dream of! Anyway, significantly increase your sales by the end of this month! Understood?”
“…Yes, I understand.”
“You can go now.”
Dokyung’s rebellion was effectively suppressed, and at the branch manager’s dismissal, Dokyung bowed his head in greeting and left the office.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have talked back.”
While part of him felt relieved, another part worried if he should have just bowed his head and apologized from the start.
He was just a ephemeral counter staff at a securities firm.
As the branch manager said, there were plenty of people lined up to take his place, and even if he left, he had nowhere else to go in life.
“But I can’t engage in illegal sales practices just because of that.”
If he only emphasized the advantages and sold products as the branch manager said, it would be incomplete sales.
Incomplete sales occurred when all the risks weren’t explained and the customer wasn’t told whether investing in this product was appropriate for them.
Dokyung didn’t want to recommend push-style product subscriptions, abandoning his duty to protect customers.
“Get it together.”
Pulling himself together, Dokyung put on his business smile as if nothing had happened and sat down at his desk, pressing the button.
Ding dong-
With the notification sound, an elderly man approached Dokyung, and Dokyung greeted him with a smile.
“Welcome, sir. It’s been a while since you’ve visited, hasn’t it?”
“Are there any good products or stocks with high returns these days?”
“Would you like me to tell you about a discretionary product?”
“Discretionary?”
“Yes. An expert carefully selects stocks and creates a portfolio to manage for you.”
“…Hmm.”
The old man showed a lukewarm response to Dokyung’s words, and Dokyung smiled as he opened his mouth towards the old man.
“If I remember correctly, when you came last time, you said you just wanted to do stocks rather than products, right?”
“How do you remember all that? It’s almost scary how well you remember every time I come.”
“Then you might not like this product. The expected return is low, and there’s no fun in direct investment.”
The old man was someone who enjoyed investing in stocks directly and liked making high returns.
“Ah, then forget it. I want to give it to my grandchild, but it should at least yield market returns.”
Dokyung didn’t want to sell products with low expected returns even to customers seeking high returns. Selling without proper explanation was no different from incomplete sales.
If he kept pushing sales, in the end, the customer would be the one to suffer.
“Then we should go with stocks.”
“Right? What’s the current price for Future Electronics?”
At the old man’s question, Dokyung quickly operated the computer to check the stock price.
“It’s 44,000 won.”
“Then buy me 2,500 shares of Future Electronics at 44,000 won. I’ll give it to my grandson.”
“You’ve made a good choice. Did you bring your bankbook?”
“Here it is.”
Dokyung took the bankbook the old man handed over and executed the order as the old man wanted.
“I’ve completed the order for 2,500 shares of Future Electronics at 44,000 won, totaling 110 million won.”
“Thank you.”
“Please visit us again. Thank you for your business.”
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[Legendary fund manager Peter Brown announced his retirement today. Peter Brown, who managed Black Sales’ flagship ‘Global Dynamic’ fund for 29 years, achieving an astounding cumulative return of 12,000%, a Wall Street legend…]
The next morning.
The sound of TV news flowed through Dokyung’s small monthly-rent room. Dokyung, who was preparing for work, was focusing on the TV screen for a moment.
“There were rumors about his retirement for a few days… So it was true.”
The TV was showing scenes from the retirement ceremony of Peter Brown, known as a Wall Street legend.
When Dokyung was in middle school, he had accidentally seen one of his lectures on TV.
Even then, Peter Brown was called a Wall Street legend, and his lecture drew the innocent middle school student into the stock market.
‘Investment is about securing satisfactory returns while safely protecting the principal through thorough analysis. Otherwise, it’s speculation.’
His one-liner explaining the essence of investment from the lecture sparked young Dokyung’s curiosity, and from that day on, Dokyung began studying about Peter Brown and stocks.
It started with Peter Brown, but he gradually became fascinated with how the stock market and financial world operated.
‘A place where you can discover a company’s value before others.’
‘A place where you can understand world affairs through numbers.’
‘A place where information flows faster than anywhere else.’
That’s what the stock market was.
A place to find companies that will grow faster than others and recognize the value of such companies.
“I wanted to work with him.”
Dokyung couldn’t take his eyes off Peter Brown, who was smiling brightly on the TV screen.
Working with him was Dokyung’s dream.
So, from a young age, he studied hard to reach the feet of the legendary fund manager.
“Maybe I should have tried harder.”
But Dokyung’s interests were focused solely on economics and investment, and with his not-so-great academic performance, he barely graduated from the economics department of a regional national university.
Still, Dokyung didn’t give up and obtained various certifications necessary to enter a securities firm as a fund manager and knocked on the doors of securities companies, but no one would accept him.
After a brief moment of frustration with reality, he persistently challenged and finally managed to enter as a counter staff at Yuseong Securities, Korea’s third-largest securities firm.
“I’ve gotten further away, though.”
Counter work and being a fund manager were as different as heaven and earth. Dokyung was getting further and further away from his goal of becoming like Peter Brown, but he was still proud just to have a foot in the securities industry, and he worked hard.
The friction with the branch manager was nothing to Dokyung.
“Look at me, I need to hurry and get to work.”
Dokyung, who had been lost in thought while absentmindedly watching TV, shook his head to clear his mind and began preparing for work.
Bzzzz-
A vibration sounded from the mobile phone he had carelessly thrown on the desk while preparing for work, and Dokyung picked up the phone to check the screen.
[You have been selected as a VIP service member.]
[We will provide you with good investment information.]
[Stock: Jiwon Autotech]
[Today is just a taste.]
[We will contact you again tomorrow.]
“Geez, they’re really persistent these days.”
It was a text message from an illegal stock leading room that often scams so-called ‘stock newbies’ as interest in the stock market has grown recently.
It was illegal for these unregistered investment advisory firms to recommend stock items and recruit members.
Even if you suffered damages, there was no way to seek redress.
“I’m in a position where stock investment is impossible.”
The Capital Market Act stipulated that securities firm employees must report their stock transactions to the company.
In addition to this law, Dokyung’s company, Yuseong Investment Securities, had strict internal regulations prohibiting stock trading except for their own company’s stocks.
This was because securities firm employees using important transaction information or market information to pursue their own profits had caused various side effects.
“I’m busy enough without spam messages.”
Dokyung blocked the phone number that sent the message, roughly threw his mobile phone aside, and quickly began preparing for work.
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“Good morning.”
“Oh, Dokyung-ssi, good morning. You’re late today?”
Surprised that Dokyung, who usually came early and took his seat, was late, the senior colleague sitting next to him asked, and Dokyung smiled awkwardly as he opened his mouth.
“I overslept.”
“I thought you came late to avoid the branch manager.”
“Haha, that’s true too.”
When Dokyung winked playfully with one eye, the senior colleague sitting next to him grinned.
“He’s a bit of a pain, isn’t he?”
Dokyung answered with a smile instead of words.
He knew it was better not to answer such questions carelessly.
“Anyway, the branch manager went to the head office today, so he won’t be coming, so don’t worry.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yeah, I heard he’s meeting Vice President Hwang In-yong or something.”
The senior colleague said that and started preparing for work, and Dokyung also organized his desk and began preparing for work.
“The market is good today, but there aren’t many customer visits?”
Two hours later, as the stock market started but few customers visited the branch, the senior colleagues began to gather and chat.
Dokyung pretended to concentrate on work while eavesdropping on their conversation.
“There are usually fewer when the market is good.”
“That’s right. That’s right.”
When the market was good, there were fewer customers visiting the branch for consultation, and fewer customers worrying about stocks. When the market wasn’t good, the branch had to be on high alert.
From customers who bought stocks based on reports issued by the head office research center asking why the stock price was falling, to customers coming to complain about low fund returns and asking who would take responsibility.
The front-line counter staff always hoped for the market to be good.
“This one hasn’t moved for a while, but it hit the upper limit at the market open today?”
“What?”
“Jiwon Autotech. There was a customer who said they were selling because it had fallen too much recently.”
Dokyung flinched for a moment when he heard the stock mentioned in the senior colleagues’ conversation. He quickly began typing on the keyboard.
And when the stock price and chart of Jiwon Autotech appeared on the monitor, Dokyung’s eyes couldn’t leave the screen for a long time.