Alex Jensen:  You’re listening to koreabizcast with the KBLA. I’m Alex Jensen, and it’s Tuesday, October 19th. We’re in the midst of a great couple of weeks for business engagement between Korea and Australia. And it’s been really heartening that koreabizcast has been able to be part of that connection, as the two countries celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties on today’s edition will connect with a key participant on the eve of a webinar, being hosted by the Australian trade and investment Commission on the subject of financial assistance, and its digital transformation will then have a chance to address the main points to come out of it later in the week. Plus, before that today, we’ll speak with one of the vital staff members keeping AustCham Korea moving onwards and upwards, as she’s just passed her two-year anniversary working there. Of course, the beauty of our platform is that we’d love to hear from all countries backgrounds, and industries. If you want to be represented or otherwise get involved in our Koreabizcast community, a great way to do so is via LinkedIn, just search KBLA.

Alex Jensen:  We’ll start with a bit of a preview for the webinar I just mentioned before as we have Craig Keary, CEO, Asia Pacific of Ignition Advice with us on the line. And, Craig, firstly, thank you very much for joining us.

Craig Keary: It’s great to be here. Thank you so much, Alex, for giving me the opportunity.

Alex Jensen:  And secondly, I have to remind myself that we’re going to be connecting again later this week. So, this is very much a preview, and it gives us a great opportunity to whet the appetite for that webinar, which you know, I’m personally really looking forward to as well. Perhaps we can start though, with what ignition really does what problems it solves when people seek financial advice.

Craig Keary: Thank you. Alex, So, look, first of all, what we really tried to do is when people seek financial advice, what we want to really do is help simplify that what financial decision making is often required and prioritized during times of extreme stress. And we’ve certainly seen that as a result of the pandemic, accessing financial advice or guidance at this time, is often a source of support. So, making the process easy, is actually very, very important from our perspective. One of the things that we know from both here in Australia, but also around the world, is that there is a fairly substantial advice or guidance gap. And one of the things that we tried to do is to bridge that gap. And one of the things that we with the evolution of technology, digital advice has really evolved to be safe, secure, and compliant. But also, one of the things that we are very much focused on is as an institute as an institution or an organization, partnering with those institutions to really help them with their customers or prospective customers to solve the advice or guidance gap that has certainly accelerated as a result of COVID-19.

Alex Jensen:  Yeah, and I think when people are feeling the stress that often comes before needing financial advice, it’s even more difficult, isn’t it? to wrap your head around possible solutions which is why I feel like your tagline is so important digital advice made human. Can you go a little further into that, that how the data is gathered, and how that then leads to this intelligent match?

Craig Keary: So, first of all, yes, we feel that we very much have a unique solution. We have built our technology based around customers, not necessarily the advisors or the institutions, we do cater for the advisors or institutions, but we’re very much a customer led piece of technology. Our unique solution really brings the customer and the advisor, or it could be a representative in a branch or an insurance agent into the same workflow. So, the customer has as much or little assistance as they need to complete their advice journey. The other thing is digital advice. Digital technology is not competing with human financial advisors, it’s actually augmenting them. It takes care of that heavy lifting the data collection so that advisors or representatives can be far more efficient, and they can focus on serving more customers and building better relationships. We offer personal advice, journeys for insurance, investment and retirement, which really recommends the advice the consumer needs and the product that they made that may suit them. We then issue the various regulatory documents We also have something that I’m deeply passionate about we have a journey quarter financial assessment, or a financial health check, which really allows consumers to prioritize which areas of their finances they should focus on and provides them with their next best action. One of our partner institutions that we’re working with has mandated this for all customers that by actually offer digital advice for and if I think about that last point, Alex, one of the things that really is important to individuals is they want to know, how are they stacking up from a financial health check, and then really guiding them into the next best action, which may not necessarily be taking out further investments, it might be paying down debt, or taking out insurance because they’ve had a life event.

Alex Jensen:  Or the need in Korea is surely just going to grow as demographics move more quickly, ever faster towards this super aged society that we’ve been hearing about for years. But there are a lot of people, I’m afraid to say they’re not quite prepared for the future financially.

Craig Keary: Look, that’s a really good point. And one of the things that we know through our work with the Australia Korea Business Council, is that household debt is very, very high. And we also know that the wealth divide is increasing. So, one of the things that I really feel that I’m very, very passionate about is that a solution like ignition does a couple of things. One, is it makes advice more accessible to a large amount of the population that may not necessarily be able to afford it previously, by face to face? Secondly, is it guides them with some very, very simple, sort of next steps. And it guides them in a very, very simple way, whether that is to look at insurance if they’ve had a life event or look at strategies to pay down debt. And if I think about what’s happened, certainly here in my home country in Australia, is that the pandemic has done a couple of things, it’s accelerated the financial stress that people are under. And it’s also accelerated the mental health challenges associated with that financial stress. So, one of the things that I do think is going to become very, very important as this demographic shift is happening, is really being able to provide people with very, very simple and straightforward tools that can help them get their get their finances back on track.

Alex Jensen:  When we hear about AI and digital advice, it feels perhaps a certain extent, like we’re giving up a certain level of financial Intelligence to machines, but from my understanding this solution is part of a need to actually raise financial literacy here in Korea, and perhaps beyond. Can you elaborate on that to look?

Craig Keary: Thank you. So, look, having spent a fair bit of time in Korea, I’m amazed at the technology, and how advanced Korea is with technology, particularly arrangement of rad a number of different sorts of solutions and services. But one of the things that we really are looking to do is what technology will become and continue to become incredibly powerful. One of the things that we are looking to do is, to some extent, use that power of technology, but that by customers design, make our solution simple. Therefore, one of the things that we do is we look at how we can provide the tools and the education material as part of our solution to help educate consumers by providing basic information such as calculators, such as this financial health check that I was talking about, which really allows them to make better decisions and feel more control in their life. If I think about Korea as a society, you know, Koreans are really ready for that digitally enabled financial advice or guidance, one of the things that we feel is they just need better digital tools to access it. And these tools are certainly now here. Something that, you know, we’ve done a fair bit of work on social responsibility. And that’s a whole different topic. But I think technology can be seen as a great level of a society, money and managing money is a real critical part of life. And therefore, by using technology, everybody can then access. But sorry, financial advice or guidance. And one of the things that we have seen from our business around the world is that the institutions who use digital advice tools can really reach a far greater number of customer, sorry, customers. So, this is not only good for their business, but more importantly, it’s good, it’s good and better for the community and society as a whole. As everybody, therefore, is making those better, smarter and you know those financial decisions that they need to make.

Alex Jensen:  Right. So, before we pick up on some of that, especially on the wellbeing customer engagement and social responsibility side that is promised through this webinar, I’d like to finish by asking you about how ignition is going to work with Korean asset and wealth managers.

Craig Keary: So first of all, we’re really excited about being able to help the Korean institutions, we are a global business, we feel that digital financial advice can benefit Korean institutions, so that they can deliver that digital financial advice or help at scale to many more customers than they would be able to do by the face-to-face interaction. Our solution really allows the institution to build their own advice or guidance journeys, how they want to then be able to deliver that to their customers, and then what level of human interaction they would like for this staff or advisors to have in that journey. Our solution is very much API enabled, and totally configurable to the institution’s requirements. So, our solution in very, very simple terms. Alex is branded in the institutions name and sits within their technology platform and delivery to their customers.

Alex Jensen:  Well, Craig, thank you very much for whetting the appetite as was promised, and I think you have done that there are going to be lots more questions to be answered during the course of the webinar on Wednesday. It is 2pm Korean time 4pm for you over there. You’re in Sydney, right?

Craig Keary: I am in Sydney at the moment.

Alex Jensen:  And I saw this webinar invitation through the Australian Chamber of Commerce on LinkedIn, that’s a good way to find out more information. There’s also an email for webinar assistance media@ignitionadvice.com. Do you want to add anything on that for now, Craig?

Craig Keary: Look, what I just like to I’d like to thank Austrade for facilitating the webinar. And really, really looking forward to talking to the audience online on Wednesday. And also, with borders opening up I’m looking forward very much to being in Korea early next year to meet face to face with those institutions that are interested as well.

Alex Jensen:  Thank you very much Craig Keary, CEO, Asia Pacific and Ignition advice.

Craig Keary: Thank you, Alex. much appreciate it.

Alex Jensen:  And while I’m giving out email addresses, in addition to saying thank you to Craig, let me say thank you to everyone for your support so far on Koreabizcast in the last few days we reached and pass the 1,000 download mark which is wonderful. But if you want to get involved, offer your feedback join our community in any shape or form. Drop us an email via info@kbla.net.

Alex Jensen:  So, moving on now to a wider lens as we can connect with Kate Kalinova, project manager at AustCham Korea. And Kate, you’ve been someone we’ve wanted sorted since we launched this podcast. And this Australia theme. Seems a great opportunity. So, thank you.

Kate Kalinova: Hi, Alex. Well, it’s an absolute pleasure to join your podcast, I’ve been following your updates and it’s very exciting to be here as a guest today.

Alex Jensen:  Well, I really appreciate your interactions on LinkedIn, by the way, because I’m trying to urge others to do the same and you’ve been a great example of that. So, thank you.

Kate Kalinova: Thank you for creating the great content.

Alex Jensen:  Well, hopefully even more great with you on board here. You did recently mark that two-year anniversary with AustCham, and you’ve packed in a lot during that time. It was one of your LinkedIn posts, where I saw a summary of all the different things that dozens of events, etc. And all the more so I think has it been impressive when we consider a good portion of that has been during a pandemic. How would you describe the journey so far in your own words?

Kate Kalinova: Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely been a whirlwind. It’s really hard to believe that two years have flown by in a flash. And so much has happened since Yeah, I started the chamber in September 2019. And of course, when I started out, it was all about very traditional events. So offline networking events, some VIP receptions, huge, you know, Australia Day celebrations and the Australia Korea Business Awards, which AustCham managed to host right before kind of the real thought of the pandemic in January 2020. So, I was really lucky to experience a lot of these kind of traditional chamber engagements in the offline events space and then kind of have to pivot along with to you, our team of three. And we, like many other organizations, I suppose, and businesses around the world and in Korea, we had to adjust to the COVID, new normal. So goodbye offline events, coffee meetings, and Hello, Zoom webinars, I think, for all of us, 2020 was the year we discovered zoo. And it seems to be here to stay. And so, I think that’s been a huge change for AustCham kind of pandemic adjustment. And so, we moved away from offline events and towards webinars, and hybrid events, which has been quite an interesting niche in regards that it allows us to bring together very senior kind of businesspeople here in Korea in a room, and then connect them via Zoom with VIP people with Australian ministers, virtually through Zoom. And it’s just been a great way to continue bridging that gap between Australia in Korea to share industry insights, keep policy developments, I mean, there’s been a lot happening both in the kind of COVID policy front, there’s been a lot of updates that we’ve had to share on the pandemic, front in regard to travel restrictions, vaccines. But also on the business side, we’ve had quite a big shift in the sectors that have been the priority of the chamber. So, I think you would have seen the news, sustainability and renewable energy and kind of low emissions technology is the buzzword right now, net zero 2050 it’s on everyone’s minds. And we’ve seen that reflected in kind of, in AustCham events and our AustCham membership as well. So that’s been quite a big trend in the kind of two years I’ve been at the chamber. And another thing away from the event front. Something else that we do, we’ve had we’ve had to pivot towards has been a rise in digital engagement. So, you’ve mentioned LinkedIn, I have LinkedIn presence has grown exponentially. And we’ve kind of had a huge rise and market entry inquiries, actually. Both thanks to our social media presence. And also, thanks to our webinars, and we’ve had a lot of businesses who are in Australia and are not yet present in the Korean market. And I just kind of looking for ways to enter or looking for opportunities to explore kind of opportunities in Korea. And they’re not sure where to start and they’re reaching out to AustCham, because they can’t travel and they’re looking for kind of insights on the grounds. So that’s been another interesting trend that we’ve seen in the last year or so. And something that we hope will continue in the post pandemic world as well.

Alex Jensen:  You know so much of what you just said, rings true is kind of like reliving the pandemic to a certain extent, but there was a lot of positive stuff in their memories that I’ve been involved in, personally, some of the events that have been hybrid, also events where you find yourself in multiple rooms as well, where people are connected, which is always interesting. But are you pretty hopeful now that things are slowly returning to normal that we are getting government announcements of, of more people being allowed to gather, and we are edging towards that 70% double vaccinated rate?

Kate Kalinova: Yes, absolutely. Alex, I think other there’s definitely been a lot of positives in terms of virtual inquiry engagements and the doors they open for connecting with businesses and kind of government representatives abroad. At the same time, there’s a real hunger for that offline engagement and the social aspect of these events. And so, we actually had one of our first in recent memory offline events, where we hosted a kind of special closed door briefing with the Australian ambassador to Korea, and some of the AustCham Korea, key sponsors and business leaders in the Australia Korea business relationship. And, you know, everyone was so excited to be in the same room together and there was a lot of discussion of how everyone’s very excited to have a return to these offline engagements as vaccination rates are going up. Travel seems to be on the horizon now and so definitely, I think we’re going to see boom, in offline events again, as the vaccination rates continue to rise and restrictions ease in the coming month.

Alex Jensen:  So, looking forward to it. But for now, we are connecting ourselves via an online interview, which is actually been part of the positive process that there’s so many more podcasting tools, for example available out there now. Let’s talk a little bit more about the webinars though. It’s quite difficult, isn’t it? to shout loud among the whole forest have webinars that are out their people offering all different kinds of subjects, and some people are trying to charge some people realize people don’t want to pay for webinars? We’ve got a big webinar that we’re getting involved with, as I mentioned already tomorrow, can you give us a sense of what works and what doesn’t in a webinar setting?

Kate Kalinova: Yeah, absolutely. I think um, one of the things that was quite interesting. So, during the kind of in the start of the pandemic Australia Korea, I was actually one of the founders of something we call the AustCham Asia network. And so, what this involves is chairing quarterly meetings with other chambers in the region. And in these meetings will be exchanging ideas and north of what works in different markets and what other chambers have been up to. And so, as the said there’s been a lot of different approaches. So, some chambers have been charging for events, or at least charging non-members and then having the webinars freely accessible to members or having a small fee for members and non-members alike. And this is kind of this approach, in some ways is a legacy of the offline event approach in that chambers tend to have a value-add proposition for our members by having these discounted tickets to events and many chambers wanted to adopt that format to webinars. However, for AustCham Korea, we decided that what was more important was giving was using webinars as a platform to provide key information, industry updates for a broader audience, not just for our members, but for, you know, companies that are interested in the market, but perhaps are not there yet or, yeah, so season, companies looking for deeper insight into given industry. And in terms of the value add, we wanted to provide our members with an opportunity to present those insights as speakers of these webinars and we are actually quite successful in that, and we found that our webinar audiences will remain quite consistent in terms of attendance. And also, it meant that we could record these webinars and upload them to YouTube and share them on social media. Since they’re free to attend. There was no need to worry about, you know, having the content behind the firewall only well available to members, we could continue to use it on social media, and across different channels to continue promoting our members and these different industry insights. And that being said, one of the key other, key elements, that was part of that success was focusing on different industries, making sure we’re covering very diverse topics. We’re always engaging different member companies. And I guess that’s one of the strengths of a Chamber of Commerce as a chamber. We don’t have a specific industry that we focus on. So, you mentioned your financial services, FinTech, MedTech, agribusiness, critical minerals, energy, renewables, there’s a whole scope of topics we can cover. And it remains very exciting and dynamic.

Alex Jensen: 60 years of ties between Australia and Korea or South Korea particularly, what status is that right now? Would you say?

Kate Kalinova: Yeah, so I mean, this is a very exciting year for the bilateral relationship. So, 60 years anniversary of diplomatic ties is the big number, and really demonstrates the long standing and enduring kind of strength of the bilateral relationship. And there’s a lot of elements that go into that. So, of course, trade and investment are a core part of that. And we’ve definitely seen diversification in the sectors that underpin the relationship. I think traditionally we it started out of course, with mining and energy sector and of course, agribusiness was another cool one, and financial services. But these days, we see a lot more of the tech and innovation. Critical minerals are on the rise, particularly given, you know, its contribution to the new energy transitions and battery technology such as batteries, to hydrogen storage, and so on.

Alex Jensen: So, the old and the new, they’re connecting through that.

Kate Kalinova: Yes, absolutely. And on the other front, you know, you shouldn’t discount the other important elements outside of the trade relationship. There’s the legacy, for example of the Australia’s role in the Korean War, which continues to play an important part in the strength of the relationship, for example, last year, marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. And this year, marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Gapyeong, which is one of the key battles of the Korean War, and one of the most important kind of moments that highlight Australia’s contribution to the defense of South Korea’s capital from the advancing forces from North Korea and China. And so, you can actually visit they have a special exhibition and Gapyeong at the moment to kind of see some of these legacy in the flesh, I suppose. And there’s a nice, the Australian embassy organized photos and garden exhibition that is linked to the war memorial and Gapyeong so it’s something you can check out to get some insights into that part of the relationship as well. And other than that, of course, people to people links, there’s cultural ties, cultural exchanges, and, you know, all sorts of exciting things that are part of that story.

Alex Jensen: Yeah, and you sound very informed as you would be in your position, but also very passionate, enthusiastic about it. Can you talk us through the journey from Australia to I think China then and then Korea? Is that right?

Kate Kalinova: Yeah, that’s right, Alex. So um, I guess my interest in Asia developed during my study is at universities. So, I was studying International Relations at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, I decided to take a one month teaching English volunteering in China, which would completely change the trajectory of my professional academic aspiration. So, I became absolutely fascinated by China and its relations with its neighbors in particular with Northeast Asia, so China, Russia, Japan, and the Korean peninsula. And so, I came back to Australia and really dive took a deep dive into engaging with the Australian China space. I joined something called Australia China Youth Association, I started attending a lot of lectures, and cultural lectures and political lectures and also volunteering at various business events related to the Australia China trade corridor. And around the same time, I also volunteered at several Korea events in Sydney. So, I guess these opportunities really highlight the amazing kind of opportunity to engage with different cultures from within Australia, thanks to our very vibrant, multicultural society and the strong diaspora community of both Chinese and Korean. As I finished up my honors degree at UNSW. I secured an internship at an organization known as the China Australia Chamber of Commerce. So, I’ll show Korea’s counterpart in Beijing office, AustCham Beijing. And I spent three months doing an internship there and I absolutely loved it. I loved the dynamic excitement of living in Asia and I decided that’s where I wanted to be. So, I came back to Australia for a while and then flew back to China for more internships and enrolled in a master’s degree. To kind of deepen my academic know how of Northeast Asia I really wanted to become a Northeast Asia expert. One year later, though, is another unexpected turn of fate if you will, as my partner who I met studying in China, got a very attractive job offer in Korea and decided to move here so suddenly, my sort of vague and long-term plans and interests in Korea became very real. And so, I started looking for opportunities to build my kind of in country experience in Korea in order to move here after my graduation in 2019. So, before I graduated, I actually managed to secure several research internships in the country. And so, when I came here 2019, I had some understanding of the history and culture and politics of Korea. And I was very excited and keen to learn more. But I guess I was faced with the very daunting job market. And so, I applied to intern with AustCham Korea, I mean, in Seoul, well, kind of continuing to explore other opportunities in the market. So sorry, that was a very long explanation. It’s sort of the Chronicles of how I ended up in Korea. I hope that answered your question.

Alex Jensen: Oh, absolutely do I think implicit in your story is advice for others. But people come to Korea for all sorts of reasons, with varying levels of knowledge. Sometimes it might be entirely colored by dramas, maybe a fusion of drama and study. And sometimes it’s just based on a whim with very little knowledge of the country or culture full stop. So, trying to hit a few of those bases in one go for expats looking to succeed here. Are there any particular tips or strategies you could add?

Kate Kalinova: Yeah, absolutely. So, I think it’s a question I get asked a lot. And I guess it’s a question I used to ask a lot as well, when I was looking for opportunities here in Korea. And one of the kind of questions that people ask is also, what happens if you’re abroad? And you’re, you know, you have this passion for Korea? And should you apply for a job or secure a job offer in Korea, first or, you know, come to the country, and see what’s out there. So, I guess you would have seen from my own story, I’m an advocate for the latter approach, I really believe that you need to be in the country experiencing at all and connecting with people to kind of explore opportunities here on the ground. That being said, there is definitely a lot of difference in terms of the job-hunting approach that is taken by seasoned professionals, as opposed to students, fresh graduates and young professionals with little more experience. So, for seasoned professional as of course, securing a job offer in Korea is the optimal path. There are very attractive expat packages, you know, cover housing, visas, sometimes drivers and you can see actually a lot of the expat community here in Korea is made up of these very senior business leaders with a lot of experience. But on the other hand, if you’re a young professional looking to break into the market, then I would really recommend coming to Korea first and seeing what’s out there and looking for opportunities to find a gap to address that with your unique skill set and experience. And I suppose there’s several channels you can aim for. So the most obvious one is study opportunities, so enroll in a Korean language course this is first handy for elevating your skill set in the Korean job market and is a great way of securing your visa that enables you to kind of build up your local network and do some side hustles while being in the country, or you can enroll in a full time degree there’s a lot of Korean scholarships you could tap into for graduate or postgraduate study. For me personally, I felt this option was a little off, the off the table since I’ve already done a master’s degree in China. And I was hesitant to commit to a full PhD program just to build up that local network here in Korea. And so, I suppose apart from those two options, the first one that is quite common and popular I suppose among the young professionals here is to enroll or to start out as an English teacher. And because especially if you come from an English-speaking country like Australia, it’s the visa is fairly easy to secure, and you can come to Korea to teach English. Enjoy a decent salary with housing and then you know, build up your local network and look for opportunities to pivot to another sector. So that being said, in terms of other follow up tips for how to build up your network, and also kind of pivot to these sectors that may be a better match for your expertise and passion. I really recommend tapping into the different community groups here in Korea, there’s basically community or hobby group for anything, whatever your interest is, or you’re interested in photography, it is multiple photography clubs, you can join and take photos around Seoul and you know, build up a career as a photographer in Korea, or you could tap into one of the multiple startup communities in Seoul, there are Seoul startups, French tech, Seoul Global Startup Center, and many others. And of course, then there’s the chamber networks as well. So whatever country you belong to, it’s really good to connect with your country’s chamber and tap into that community to get the introductions to other business leaders in the sector who might know of opportunities. Maybe there’s a company that’s looking precisely for someone with your skill set. And you know, that those kind of word-of-mouth recommendations go a long way in Korea.

Alex Jensen: Yeah, they do. And you’ll be surprised at how often people will react positively. If you do get in touch via LinkedIn, for example, Kate Kalinova is one of them who’s been very proactive as I said before. We really appreciate your time. I wish you all the best for the next months and years. Hopefully, you get to enjoy some post pandemic fun in Korea as well.

Kate Kalinova: Absolutely. Looking forward to it. And thank you very much, Alex, it’s been a pleasure chatting to you. And yeah, I encourage anyone who’s interested in having a chat about AustCham or you know, tips for young professionals in Korea, just reach out to me via LinkedIn, always glad to have a zoom coffee or offline coffee with, you know, social distancing restrictions fit in.

Alex Jensen: Wonderful, Kate, it’s been a pleasure. And also, I’d like to say thank you to Craig Keary, who joined us on the podcast before that. We’ll look forward to finding out how Wednesday’s webinar goes later in the week as ever, it’s been a great spending today’s episode with you on Koreabizcast with the KBLA see you again tomorrow from 7am Korea time.