Chapter 31
Translator: Dreamscribe
“It's not listed in our country.”
Stummwagen is the largest automobile group in Germany.
They own practically every foreign car brand you might know.
They already hold over 20% of the market share within Germany, firmly maintaining their number one position.
They are especially known for their aggressive investments in the sports car sector.
“If you want to trade them, you can only go through the Frankfurt Exchange.”
It was possible to buy Stummwagen stock through various derivatives, but if you wanted to make transactions worth hundreds of billions, it was better to go directly into the German stock market.
“There’s nothing that looks particularly strange.”
I looked up recent issues related to Stummwagen.
But there wasn’t anything unusual.
In fact, it was more like a series of positive news.
Sales were strong, vehicle testing had passed with good results, and the outlook for the future was very promising.
If things continued as they were, Stummwagen would likely continue to reign as the overwhelming number one in the automobile market.
“But then, why did I get that feeling earlier.......”
“Department Head~.”
I was at a cafe, looking into Stummwagen by myself.
A clear voice came from behind.
"Ah. You're here?"
“Wow. I think this is the first time I’ve seen you dressed so casually, Department Head.”
Come to think of it, Deputy Manager-nim always wore a suit.
Same for me.
The two of us had never had a reason to meet outside of work.
'The saying that clothes make the person was all a lie.'
When I’m not in a suit and just dressed casually, I definitely feel the nerf in my overall appearance, but Deputy Manager-nim looked no different at all.
There’s a certain charm that only suits have.
And at the same time, there’s this exceptional charm in her simple outfit too.
“But what were you looking at? I wasn’t trying to peek, but I saw some economic news flash by.”
“Ah. About Stummwagen. Since I was here to look at cars anyway, I thought I’d take a quick look at how that company’s doing these days.”
“As expected, you never stop working, Department Head. I try not to think about stocks at all when I’m off. But seeing you today, I realize that’s not the way. You have to always keep the stock market in mind if you want to improve your skills. I learned something new today.”
I also only think about games when I’m off, not much about the stock market.
“Well then, Department Head. Shall we go? I actually prepared a file separately.”
It wasn’t a lie, it was real.
Deputy Manager-nim handed me a file organized by vehicle type for each brand.
“Wh-when did you do all this.......”
“I told you I was looking into cars last time, remember? I didn’t really know what was what back then, so I organized it all. Looks like it’s coming in handy now?”
Her outfit might be simple.
But her level of preparation was no different from when she was at the office.
“Alright. Then allow me to escort you!”
Just for a brief moment.
A really brief moment.
I had that thought.
As if this were a date, not a date, but like a date, a ridiculous delusion like that.
But Deputy Manager really covered everything from domestic to overseas brands, following me around to dealerships.
“This brand is known for its reliability. Not just domestically, but it also received good scores in European safety tests. On top of that, some very convenient features were added this time.......”
Thorough preparation.
And the deep knowledge that came with it.
It was a completely businesslike outing, with not even a hint of a sweet moment.
“Phew. That was productive, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I learned a lot, thanks to you. You must be hungry, Deputy Manager-nim.”
“Yep. Really hungry.”
“Shall we go get dinner then? You’ve gone through all this trouble for me today. Let me treat you to something nice.”
“Hehe. That sounds great.”
One thing I’ve learned while working with Deputy Manager-nim is that she eats everything well.
“I’ve been cutting back on carbs to manage my body. But these days, I can’t stop thinking about bibimbap.”
I was planning to buy her something expensive.
But the place she chose was just a regular Korean restaurant.
Well, I did hear her say during a workout last time that she manages her meals strictly.
“By the way, Department Head.”
“Yes?”
“Um...... would it be okay if I called you Jin-ho again outside of work......?”
“Of course.”
“Wow. Thanks, Jin-ho. Calling you like this really brings back old memories. Not that it was that long ago. But somehow it feels like it’s been ages.”
“It really does.”
Back when we were juniors, we used to run around together so much.
It really felt like a memory from long ago, at least in terms of perception.
“But Jin-ho ssi, I noticed earlier that you didn’t even glance at any of the brands under the Stummwagen Group. Why is that? Aren’t all of those brands rated pretty well?”
“I just... didn’t really feel drawn to them.”
“Ah~ so you have your own preferences.”
“What about you, Deputy Manager-nim? What brand do you like the most?”
“Ah, I... wait a second. Before that, you don’t have to call me Deputy Manager-nim outside of work, either.”
“Then... Hye-rin ssi?”
“Yep. Hehe.”
Calling her Hye-rin ssi instead of Deputy Manager felt awkward, but also nice.
“I looked into foreign cars too, but I’m trying to save every penny to buy real estate.”
“Real estate?”
“Yes. In our country, real estate holds way more value than stocks. There’s a reason people buy real estate even by going into debt. If you just leave it alone, the value goes up anyway.”
It’s a very simple, Korea-specific investment logic.
Say I earn the same salary as someone else.
If one person saves money while the other takes out a loan and buys real estate, ten years later, the person who bought real estate will have overwhelmingly more assets.
Because even with the interest, real estate prices rise more than that.
Of course, for now this is mostly true only in Seoul, but as time passes, property prices in other regions will naturally rise as well.
It’s not for no reason that celebrities buy buildings.
In our country, real estate is the best asset you can have.
“I should seriously look into real estate too.”
I was already in the process of looking for a new place to live.
I had a lot of money, and living in a spacious, luxurious home at least once is everyone’s dream, isn’t it?
It might even be nice to buy a good-looking building and leave the management to my parents.
Even if I told them to quit working right now, they’d stubbornly refuse, saying there’s no point in staying home doing nothing.
“Ah, you should check that out too. The LK Tower they’re building right now. It’s going to be over 550 meters tall.”
About five years ago, LK Group declared they would build the tallest symbolic landmark in South Korea and began construction.
Now it was in the final stages, with completion not far off.
Their ambition to make it the most luxurious building in Korea was still ongoing.
“Residents of LK Tower get premium hotel-level service at all times, and more than anything, it boasts a view like nothing else. Just imagine looking down at the Seoul nightscape from that height, how amazing would that be?”
I nodded as I reached for my cup, then froze for a moment.
“What’s wrong, Jin-ho ssi?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
It was just for a moment, but I felt a strong sensation pass through me.
Was there something going on at LK Group too?
***
“Well then, I hope you have another great day. Please contact me when you're ready to leave the office, and I’ll have the car waiting right away, Department Head.”
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
They say humans are creatures of adaptation.
When the driver first waited in front of my house in a luxury sedan, I felt incredibly awkward.
But after following my hyung’s advice to never drive myself, I had gotten used to it and now rode comfortably.
“Good morning, everyone.”
“Good morning, Department Head!!”
“Alright. We’ll begin the meeting in five minutes.”
The employees busily prepared and gathered in the meeting room.
“Department Head, the materials you requested earlier are ready.”
“About Stummwagen?”
“Yes. It’s research material on them.”
Stummwagen.
Market capitalization: 119.3 billion euros.
Its current stock price was about 250 euros, reaching an all-time high.
Its brand value was estimated at 39.8 billion dollars, making it the most valuable automobile brand in the world.
It was also accelerating its global market expansion in an effort to surpass Siyota, the current world leader in sales volume.
“Since hitting another all-time high recently, research institutions are projecting high long-term returns. In fact, there are a lot of ETFs related to Stummwagen being released these days. Also, both domestic and foreign funds are reportedly investing in this stock.”
Unless there’s a major issue in the near future, it was a very good stock expected to continue trending upward.
“If you're planning to take a long position, using the Frankfurt Exchange directly would be fine, but if you want to enter the German market with a certain amount of capital, you must file a mandatory report. Since our assets are about 700 billion won, if we were to invest all of that into the German stock market, we’d have to report it to Bafin.”
Just as Korea has the Financial Supervisory Service and the U.S. has the SEC, Germany has Bafin.
The so-called Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany.
Germany has the strictest financial regulations in Europe.
So to inject a certain amount of capital, prior reporting is mandatory, and if you're trying to acquire more than 3% of a certain stock’s shares, additional reporting is required.
There are also strong regulations on short selling, such that even a 0.3% short position requires reporting and becomes subject to surveillance.
“You can think of Germany’s regulations as being on par with ours. But they’re particularly sensitive about foreign capital, so much so that monitoring and regulation in that area are even stricter than in our country.”
As I listened to the explanation, I reviewed the investment methods recommended by the Research Team.
First, investing directly through the Frankfurt Exchange.
“.......”
When I hovered the pen slightly over it, I didn’t feel anything.
Was it because they hadn’t specified whether it was a long or short?
So I wrote Long and Short beneath it.
“.......”
Still, there was no feeling.
What is this? Is investing in Stummwagen itself the wrong move?
Maybe the feeling I had back then wasn’t about Stummwagen’s business, but rather about a defect in the car itself?
I then looked at other methods listed below for investing in Stummwagen.
‘U.S. ADRs... Hong Kong, Singapore hedge funds... there’s a lot.’
They noted that if direct investment felt burdensome, there were other routes.
But these weren’t strongly recommended.
Because if you invested through these, the fees would be slightly higher than direct investment.
“.......”
I hovered the pen over those methods.
Again, I felt nothing in particular.
Just in case, I wrote Long again, but as expected, nothing clicked.
‘Am I really just imagining things?’
Thinking that, the moment I wrote Short next to it.
“!?”
A powerful sensation struck my body, strong enough to make my pen tremble.
***
“.......”
After the meeting ended, Manager Seo had a separate talk with the Department Head before stepping out.
The team members were waiting for him to come out of the Department Head’s office.
The very Department Head who had just exploded with success in the FX market, turning 500 billion into 700 billion, a monstrous feat.
Especially on that day, the staff were nervous, not knowing when the Department Head would unload his holdings.
When they found out he had unloaded at the highest point, the dopamine rush was enough to still make their bodies tingle.
That’s why it was only natural they’d be curious.
What would be the Department Head’s next investment target?
“Manager-nim. What’s the Department Head’s next target?”
“Looks like it’s Stummwagen.”
“Knew it. That one was a solid guess. Stummwagen’s been doing well lately. So it must be a long position, right?”
“No. Surprisingly, it’s a short.”
“What?”
Wasn’t Stummwagen the one trying to overtake Japan’s Siyota in global sales?
It was one of the hottest companies in the world right now.
“Does he think a correction is coming?”
“Well, prices have gone up a lot recently. A correction might be due, but still.......”
As the research material clearly shows,
Stummwagen is expected to continue climbing for the time being.
A correction might come, but only briefly.
“But I don’t think he’s shorting it just because of a temporary correction.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Look at this.”
The paper that Manager Seo showed had a list personally checked by Department Head Jung Jin-ho.
“Hedge funds, ETFs, ADRs, and other derivative products? Most of the investments are concentrated in ADRs and hedge funds.”
“Exactly. We’re not entering the Frankfurt Exchange directly, everything’s indirect investment.”
Everyone looked as if they had no idea what Manager Seo was trying to say.
“Don’t you see? Let’s say we went directly into the Frankfurt Exchange and took a short position. Then suddenly, Stummwagen’s stock price plummets. What do you think Bafin would think about that?”
“An investment based on insider information?”
“Exactly. They could heavily suspect us. Especially since Germany is extremely strict about foreign capital. Even if there’s no real problem, they’re the type to create one.”
If this were just an investment targeting a short-term correction, he wouldn’t have instructed indirect investment. He would’ve gone directly into the market.
“Ah… then don’t tell me…”
Only then did they slowly begin to understand.
Department Head Jung Jin-ho didn’t enter the German market just to make some pocket change.
If he’s ordering indirect investments at this scale, it clearly means something big is coming.
“By using indirect investments like this, if Stummwagen’s stock crashes, Bafin will just see us as anonymous investors. It’ll look like the money is being sucked in from various sources, not from one specific account.”
Anonymous investors.
Bafin would simply assume that regular short-selling funds or institutions made a profit. They’d never imagine that a single department in Korea poured in hundreds of billions and swept it all up.
“Wow. If it really plays out the way you say, it’s like we’re the foreign investors wreaking havoc in our own market, but this time, we’re the ones sweeping through the German market.”
“Yeah. If Stummwagen actually falls. If the Department Head’s bet succeeds, he’ll make hundreds of billions. But if he fails, he’ll lose hundreds of billions just as easily.”
“Gasp.”
The greater the profit, the greater the loss.
That’s why securities firms always emphasize strict risk management.
“But of course, this time too, the Department Head’s…”
“There is none. Didn’t I tell you? His version of risk management is just to win.”
“.......”
Charging into the German market as an anonymous investor.
And doing it armed with nothing but a single sword, no armor.
Before the enemy can stab him, he cuts off their head first.
That was Department Head Jung Jin-ho’s risk management.
Just imagining it made their blood boil, and at the same time, their hearts pound.
“Just hearing it makes my heart race.”
“I’m already sweating.”
They felt like if they worked here too long, they wouldn’t live out their full lives.
*****
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