Ki Won Yoon
About Ki Won Yoon
Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of Open Bank, age 64; director nominee for OP Bancorp’s board in 2025. She has 37+ years of lending experience with deep relationships in the Korean‑American business community and previously managed a $450M loan portfolio at BBCN Bank (now Bank of Hope). Incentive design for OP Bancorp executives is tied to bank-level ROA, ROE, and efficiency ratio, and company pay-versus-performance shows TSR moving from 87 (2022) to 98 (2023) to 144 (2024) for a $100 initial investment, alongside Net Income of $33.3M (2022), $23.9M (2023), $21.1M (2024) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBCN Bank (now Bank of Hope) | District Manager | 1999–2013 | Managed >$450M loan portfolio; strong ties to Korean‑American business community |
External Roles
No other public-company directorships or committee roles disclosed beyond OP Bancorp/Open Bank .
Fixed Compensation
| Plan Element | 2024 Terms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Not disclosed for Ms. Yoon (not an NEO) | NEOs disclosed only for CEO, CFO, Chief Credit Officer |
| Target/Cap bonus (other executive officers) | Up to 35% of base salary | Applies to executives other than CEO; payout requires ≥80% of goals |
| Perquisites | Standard employee benefits; cell phone allowance as typical for NEOs | Benefits/perks policies apply broadly; NEO examples shown |
| Director fees (dual-role) | Officers do not earn additional compensation for director service | Mitigates dual-compensation risk |
Performance Compensation
OP Bancorp’s Management Incentive Plan uses bank-level metrics plus individual goals. For other executive officers (which includes the CLO role), weighting is 60% Bank Goals and 40% Individual Goals in 2024 and 2023; in 2022 it was 70%/30%. Payouts require achieving minimum thresholds (≥80% of goals; ROA floor applied in 2022) .
| Metric | 2022 Target | 2022 Actual | 2023 Target | 2023 Actual | 2024 Target | 2024 Actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROA (%) | 1.70 | 1.74 | 1.17 | 1.13 | 1.01 | 0.92 |
| ROE (%) | 18.00 | 19.47 | 13.52 | 13.05 | 11.30 | 10.68 |
| Efficiency Ratio (%) | 46.00 | 47.40 | 56.64 | 57.59 | 57.35 | 61.19 |
| Incentive Design Element | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weighting (Bank/Individual) | 70% / 30% (other execs) | 60% / 40% (other execs) | 60% / 40% (other execs) |
| Minimum payout threshold | ≥70% of goals; ROA ≥1% | ≥80% of goals | ≥80% of goals |
| Ms. Yoon’s actual bonus | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
Clawback: Incentive compensation (cash and equity) for executive officers is subject to recovery under OP Bancorp’s Clawback Policy compliant with Exchange Act Rule 10D‑1/Nasdaq Rule 5608 (applies to officers performing material policy-making functions) .
Grant timing: Company does not grant options close to release of MNPI; RSU grants are allowed but none of the NEOs received options in 2024; grants follow trading-window/blackout restrictions .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Ownership Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Shares beneficially owned | 50,410 shares as of April 30, 2025 (0.34% of outstanding) |
| Vested vs unvested | Not disclosed for Ms. Yoon (no RSU footnote indicated) |
| Options outstanding | None disclosed for Ms. Yoon (no options table entry) |
| Pledging/hedging | Company policy prohibits pledging/margin accounts; hedging strongly discouraged and requires pre‑clearance |
| Trading controls | Pre‑clearance required for directors/executive officers; quarterly blackout windows and event-specific trade restrictions |
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current role | EVP & Chief Lending Officer (Open Bank) |
| Role start date | October 2013 |
| Years in role | Since Oct 2013 (continuous service) |
| Contract term | Not disclosed (no individual agreement in proxy) |
| Severance/Change-in-Control | Severance Plan participants are selected by HRCC; CFO status disclosed; Ms. Yoon participation not disclosed |
| Non‑compete/Non‑solicit | Not disclosed |
| Clawback | Applies to executive officers’ incentive comp (cash/equity) under Rule 10D‑1 compliant policy |
| Insider trading | Robust policy with pre‑clearance, blackout windows, and prohibited transactions (pledging, short sales, derivative options) |
Board Governance
- Board service: Director nominee in 2025; OP Bancorp board has 7 members and separates Chair and CEO roles .
- Independence: 4 of 7 nominees are independent; Ms. Yoon is a non-independent executive director nominee (dual role) .
- Committee roles: Standing committees (Audit, HRCC, Nomination & Governance, BRCC) are entirely independent directors; no committee memberships disclosed for Ms. Yoon .
- Attendance: Board held 14 meetings in 2024; all incumbent directors attended each meeting and committee meetings on which they served .
- Director compensation: Officers do not receive additional compensation for director service (no director fees or RSUs for officer‑directors) .
Director Compensation (for context)
Non‑officer directors received monthly cash retainers (Chair: $7,000; others: $5,000) and annual RSU grants (e.g., June 27, 2024: aggregate 20,646 shares at $9.30). Officer‑directors (e.g., Ms. Yoon) do not earn director compensation .
Related Party Transactions and Policies
- Robust related party transaction review by Audit Committee; ordinary banking relationships permitted on market terms; as of December 31, 2024 officers/directors group not indebted; deposits totaled $2.3M .
- Open Stewardship Foundation donations: >$17.5M since inception; governance described; no compensation to directors/officers for Foundation service .
Performance & Track Record (Company-level context)
- Pay-versus-performance TSR index: $100 initial investment value at 87 (2022), 98 (2023), 144 (2024) .
- Financial metrics referenced in incentives: ROA 1.74% (2022), 1.13% (2023), 0.92% (2024); ROE 19.57% (2022), 13.05% (2023), 10.68% (2024); efficiency ratio 47.42% (2022), 57.59% (2023), 61.19% (2024) .
- Strategic lending footprint and portfolio composition detailed in 10‑K (CRE 50.1%, Home Mortgage 26.0%, SBA 13.0%, C&I 10.9% as of 12/31/2024), relevant to CLO execution scope .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Dual role (executive + director) implies non‑independence; mitigated by fully independent committees and separated Chair/CEO roles .
- No option repricing or opportunistic grant timing; explicit restrictions against grants near MNPI releases .
- Clawback policy, anti‑pledging rules, and pre‑clearance/trading windows reduce misalignment and selling pressure risks .
- Company CRE concentration (311% of total RBC) is a macro risk for portfolio oversight under the CLO, increasing execution rigor requirements .
Compensation Committee Analysis
- HRCC is fully independent; responsibilities include plan design, CEO comp oversight, executive incentive administration, succession, and regulatory compliance. No external compensation consultant disclosures noted; committee met six times in 2024 .
Say‑on‑Pay & Shareholder Feedback
- 2025 proxy includes advisory vote on executive compensation and advisory vote on frequency (Board recommends “ONE YEAR” frequency). 2024 annual meeting results reported for director elections/auditor ratification; advisory say‑on‑pay vote was scheduled for 2025 .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Ms. Yoon’s incentives are driven by hard financial metrics (ROA/ROE/efficiency) with 60% bank goals/40% individual goals for 2024; clawback and anti‑pledging policies strengthen pay‑for‑performance discipline and reduce forced‑sale risk .
- Retention: Long tenure as CLO since 2013 and deep market ties support continuity; lack of disclosed individual severance/CoC benefits limits visibility into retention economics (neutral to slight risk) .
- Trading signals: Pre‑clearance/blackouts and prohibition on pledging mitigate near‑term selling pressure; officer‑directors do not receive director equity, reducing incremental grant‑driven supply .
- Execution risk: Company‑level CRE concentration and lower 2024 profitability metrics vs targets heighten need for prudent credit discipline under the CLO; monitoring loan growth and asset quality in subsequent quarters is warranted .