New light on disputed IPO's for Samsung & Kyobo Life

Michael Hong runs an investment advisory boutique in Seoul called Red Herring and is the former country manager of GE Capital in Korea. He was one of those who attended a conference FinanceAsia held on the IPO of the Korean life insurers a couple of months ago in Seoul. The conference debated the rights and wrongs of whether Korean policyholders should get a share of the proceeds when Samsung Life and Kyobo Life conduct their IPOs. Their claim to a share has repeatedly held up the IPO process. Here Hong explains why, on further investigation, he feels the foreign view misses a vital point in supporting the insurers against the policyholders.