Strong growth in wealth management, brokerage and trading businesses lifts earnings at Korea Investment & Securities The headquarters of Korea Investment & Securities in Yeouido, Seoul. Korea Investment & Securities said its first-quarter operating profit was near 1 trillion won (667.3 million won), driven by balanced growth across its brokerage, wealth management, investment banking and trading businesses.On Thursday, KIS said in a preliminary earnings filing that its first-quarter operating profit on a consolidated basis rose 85 percent on-year to 959.9 billion won.Net profit increased 75 percent from a year earlier to 784.7 billion won during the same period.Trading accounted for 39.1 percent of the brokerage firm's first-quarter operating profit, followed by brokerage business at 33.3 percent, investment banking at 18.6 percent and wealth management at 9 percent.In the wealth management division, sales commissions surged 71.6 percent on-year on the back of strong sales of financial products such as bonds, short-term notes and beneficiary certificates.A KIS official said the company has successfully transformed itself into a “comprehensive wealth management platform” for retail investors beyond a profit structure centered on stock brokerage services.The balance of retail clients' financial products at KIS increased to 94.5 trillion won from 85.1 trillion won at the end of last year, meaning that more than 3 trillion won in client funds flowed into the brokerage firm on a monthly average this year.Brokerage-related profit jumped 55 percent from a year earlier amid strong stock market rallies. Investment banking profit rose 14.7 percent on-year, while the firm's trading and sales & trading business also contributed to solid earnings, the company said.KIS' standalone equity capital stood at 12.7 trillion won as of the end of the first quarter, maintaining the industry's largest equity capital among local brokerage firms.The company said it will continue strengthening its foundation to grow into a global financial investment company based on a balanced profit structure that is not overly dependent on any particular business segment or market conditions.