An Investor Who Sees The Future Chapter 60

Everyone except Taekgyu, who already knew, was surprised.

Ellie blinked her eyes and asked,

“A bet? Which side?”

“I told you. I’m betting on Brexit.”

“Oh, so… Ah!”

Hyunjoo’s expression was one of astonishnt.

“You’re betting on the UK leaving the EU?”

“Yes.”

Sunyeop senior exclaid,

“Wait, hold on! What does that an? Isn’t the atmosphere almost confird for remaining?”

“Confird? But they haven’t even voted yet.”

Naturally, everyone had been expecting the UK to remain. In such a situation, I needed evidence to support my argunt for leaving, not just to convince others, but first and foremost, to convince myself.

“The UK will leave the EU.”

Ellie seed puzzled.

“But experts have a different opinion.”

“There’s hardly anyone less reliable than financial experts.”

If everything they said ca true, the whole nation would be sitting pretty.

“Opinion polls are showing support for remaining.”

“The EU exit supporters are conservatives. Conservatives are reluctant to reveal themselves as such. Haven’t you heard of the Shy Tory?”

The term “Shy Tory” refers to the hidden conservative vote in the UK.

Remaining gives a positive feeling of accepting other races and supporting the unity of Europe, while leaving gives a negative feeling of being a racial discriminator who drives out immigrants and refugees, hindering European unity.

Due to this, when asked by others, many people often say things different from their true feelings or avoid giving a direct answer.

“Economically, the balance may work out in favor of remaining. However, this is a political issue.”

From the start, putting the EU’s compromise plan to a national referendum was a political move in itself.

Politicians in favor of leaving kept silent about the potential repercussions of Brexit, claiming that if the UK exits the EU, a new era will dawn.

Their argunt is to stop or expel incoming immigrants and refugees, break free from the EU’s unnecessary regulations to reclaim British sovereignty, and use the large sums previously allocated to the EU for the benefit of the locals.

Just listening to their words makes it seem like a bright future lies ahead.

One should not easily believe the words of financial experts and politicians.

“Above all, what voters hold a grudge against is the issue of immigration and refugees.”

Ellie nodded her head.

“That’s true. After a long ti, I visited London and the city’s appearance has completely changed. Most cleaners and laborers can’t speak proper English and are immigrants from Eastern Europe, causing unease among many.”

It’s the sa in our country. It’s beco common to see Chinese-Korean ahjummas working in restaurants. In areas like Daerim-dong, it’s hard to tell whether you’re among Koreans or Chinese, and places like Ansan, with dense industrial zones, overflow with laborers from Bangladesh or Uzbekistan.

While so advocate for integrating them into our society, others hold negative views, believing that foreigners take away jobs and commit cris, fueling resentnt against them.

“Moreover, the pride of the British has been significantly hurt.”

Once, Britain was an empire on which the sun never set. Though that era of glory has passed, the prestige enjoyed during the days of the British Empire still fuels the pride of the British.

Now, however, the country with the most influence within the EU is Germany.

When the UK requested authority to prevent immigrants from flooding the EU executive, the German Chancellor rejected this demand.

The freedom of movent between EU mber states must be ensured, and if this cannot be accepted, then the UK must leave the EU.

Even though compromises were offered on other issues, the UK’s pride had already been greatly compromised. The current discussion about refugee quotas is also being carried out largely by Germany, disregarding the wishes of the UK.

With dissatisfaction mixed with complaints about being no different from being under German rule, and a sigh mixed with self-reflection about how Britain ended up being a country where even the UK can’t control borders as they like, it’s possible for such sentints to burst out.

To them, the politicians’ slogan of leaving the EU and returning to the sovereignty of nation-states inevitably sounds appealing.

Considering these points, it’s not impossible for the withdrawal advocates to erge victorious.

Hyunjoo suddenly said as she listened quietly, “There’s a point. Nowadays, there’s a prevailing atmosphere of extre right-wing ideology throughout Europe. Still, it must be seen that the scales are tilted towards the remain camp.”

“This is good for us, isn’t it?”

Using horse racing as an example, a horse that everyone predicts to win usually doesn’t have high odds. However, if an unexpected horse wins, the payout could be hundreds of tis the bet. This is exactly the current situation.

When everyone talks about remaining, I am the only one shouting ‘Brexit’ at the center of the world. I might be seen as crazy for a while, but the conversation will change when the results co out.

I shared the information I had prepared at ho.

“I’ve outlined the main strategy, so please prepare the detailed tactics individually.”

Hyunjoo and Sangyeop couldn’t conceal their shock after reading it.

Sangyeop, in confusion, said, “Wait, is this for real? Are you really planning to do this?”

“Yes.”

Hyunjoo shook her head.

“This is too risky.”

“The vote will pass, and Brexit will happen. So, trust and follow along.”

Among nurous argunts, the most certain one is foresight. But that’s a secret I can’t reveal.

The core of my strategy can be summarized into two points: first, borrowing as much as possible, and second, leveraging as much as possible.

Fortunately, in the foreign exchange market, there is a wonderful(?) derivative called FX Margin (Foreign Exchange Margin).

By utilizing this, it is possible to bet more than ten tis the capital one holds.

Everyone’s faces turned pale.

Ellie had a puzzled expression.

“What’s the reason? Jinho has earned plenty of money up to now. Maybe he couldn’t have done better than that even if he started over from the beginning. But why are you trying to make such risky investnts now?”

She was right.

For several days, I also pondered over that problem.

The estimated assets of OTK Company are approximately $10 billion. Including its subsidiary, K Company, it is about $11 billion.

In Korean won, it’s roughly 12 trillion won.

Eighty percent of it is my share, so my assets amount to 9.6 trillion won.

With this amount, I would rank within the top 10 wealthiest in Korea. As ti goes by, companies will continue to grow, and my assets will keep increasing.

In this situation, is there a need to make unreasonable investnts? Can’t I just sit still and wait for my assets to grow on their own?

However…

An opportunity to devour the global financial market was right in front of .

I said to Taekgyu, this is a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity. We can’t predict if such a huge opportunity will co within the next few years, and even if it does, there’s no guarantee that I can foresee it.

Hence, I must not miss this opportunity at any cost.

I looked around at everyone and said,

“If there’s a chance to make money, we should make money. Do we need any other reasons?”

If it were like the L6 situation before, I would have avoided derivative investnts. But now, the timing is clearly defined until the voting day.

If you are confident, you must be prepared and jump in. Just investing and watching from the sidelines doesn’t suit my nature.

Senior Sangyeop spoke as if he was lanting.

“If we fail, everything will go up in smoke. OTK Company, K Company, they will all disappear into thin air.”

I asked while looking at Senior Sangyeop.

“Do you rember the winter two years ago?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Back then, both you and I were penniless. Yet in less than two years, we’ve made it to where we are now. Why do you think that was possible?”

If we hadn’t sold the put options during the L6 incident, how many years would it have taken to make 600 billion?

If we hadn’t earned like that back then, we wouldn’t have dared to invest in startups later, and our assets wouldn’t have grown to 10 billion dollars.

The world has changed rapidly in a year. More opportunities will arise, and to seize them, we need more money.

“If everything goes, we’ll just start over from scratch. What’s there to worry about?”

Senior Sangyeop loosened his tight necktie. Then he gulped down the drink in front of him in one go.

“You’re right. There must have been good reasons to be sure about Brexit, and when you’re sure, you have to act. Looks like I’ve gotten a bit complacent from making money all this ti.”

Senior Sangyeop suddenly had the sa look in his eyes as when he ca looking to hire in the past.

Hyunjoo sighed and said, “The decision has already been made, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll follow the CEO’s decision.”

Taekgyu raised his hand. “I’m definitely in favor.”

Ellie shrugged, “There’s not much I can do to help, but I’ll support you nonetheless.”

“Thank you.”

As the CEO of OTK Company, I said.

“Let’s try to earn so money from now on.”

***

The head of the London Foreign Exchange Exchange, Josh Harrington, was monitoring the foreign exchange market when he detected an unusual trend. For the past few days, there had been a continuous influx of pounds being sold.

“Where on earth are these orders coming from?” he wondered. He instructed his chief dealer, David Enoch, to investigate.

“Take a look and find out,” he said.

While financial firms do not disclose custor information upon inquiry, closely monitoring the flow of funds can reveal the source of the money.

David reported back to Josh, “It’s OTK Company.”

“What?” It was a familiar na.

OTK Company first appeared in the financial market in Korea during the L6 explosion incident. Just before Seosung Electronics’ premium phone L6 was discontinued due to explosions, a particular company amassed a large amount of Seosung Electronics and KOSPI put options.

On a day known as Black Friday in the Korean stock market crash, that company made profits exceeding $500 million.

With this capital as a foundation, about a year ago, it ventured into venture capital, and the value of companies in which it held stakes steadily increased daily.

Among those with a strong presence in the financial markets, hardly anyone would be unfamiliar with the na OTK Company.

However, recently, OTK Company had set its holdings as collateral with financial institutions to obtain loans exceeding $10 billion, causing rumors to spread throughout the financial industry.

What were they planning to do with such a huge borrowed sum? Were they pouring it into the foreign exchange market?

Exchange rates are closely related to a country’s economic strength. The UK plays a key role in the global economy, and the pound was being treated as a reserve currency alongside the euro, yen, and yuan.

As a result, it was not to be taken lightly for foreign exchange speculators. Selling off pounds – does it an they are predicting a decline in the pound’s value?

“I need to look into this more.”

A few days later, Josh, who had discovered the truth, was shocked.

OTK Company was not just engaging in spot trading, but was involved in FX margin trading. They leveraged up to 10 tis to turn 10 billion dollars into 100 billion dollars before placing their bets.

It was truly a crazy thing to do.

If the pound unexpectedly rose by 10 percent, they would lose all their investnt capital.

Josh was baffled.

“What on earth are these geeks thinking?”

**”

During a similar period,

The opposite situation was unfolding at the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market.

While it’s said that the market determines exchange rates, there are governnt entities among the market participants. When the exchange rate rises excessively, the governnt sells dollars and buys dostic currency, and when it falls excessively, they sell dostic currency and buy dollars to intervene in the market.

Managing the yen’s value is one of the current governnt’s key policies.

Despite the governnt continuously buying dollars to devalue the yen, the exchange rate was, in fact, dropping.

This was because a specific faction kept selling dollars and buying yen.

“Who is the buyer?”

“It’s OTK Company!”

While OTK Company was selling pounds on the London Foreign Exchange Market, they were buying yen at the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market.

The implications of this situation were clear.

Yamazaki Hitoshi, the head of the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market, muttered as he saw the increasing buy orders.

“Could it be… betting on Brexit?”