Fostering Innovative Talents through Partnership with University of Toronto’s Applied AI Program
-
Similar Topics
-
By News Reporter
In this installment of On the Job, we explore LG’s IR Division and their efforts to communicate with key stakeholders, sharing progress updates and future plans to enhance the company’s value.
Effective investor relations (IR) are critical to a company’s success, fostering transparency by providing clear and accurate information to investors, analysts and other stakeholders. The role of IR professionals is evolving globally to encompass important corporate functions including sustainability. Rather than merely serving as liaisons between the organization and the financial community, IR teams are increasingly becoming strategic partners, playing a vital role in advancing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives that go beyond traditional sustainability reporting.
As a company that has always prioritized transparent communications with customers or investors alike, LG has carefully constructed a highly skilled team of IR practitioners. In this installment of On the Job, we get an “up close” look at LG’s IR Division to learn about their tasks, the challenges they face and what motivates them to excel in their field.
The primary mission of an IR organization is to ensure fair business valuation, create an environment conducive to raising funds through capital markets and maintain a stable shareholder base.
“To achieve this, our Division handles a range of tasks, from responding to investors and overseeing corporate disclosures to announcing earnings and conducting business briefings and shareholder meetings,” said Park Won-jae, head of IR Division at LG Electronics.
IR activities can be broadly categorized into three main areas: enhancing capital market integrity by ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and laws in information sharing; communicating with investors about the company’s management status, strategies and vision through corporate presentations and conferences; and collaborating with related organizations, such as finance, to establish shareholder return policies like dividends or share buybacks to enhance shareholder value.
LG’s IR Division consists of the IR Planning Team and the IR Communications Team. The IR Communications Team focuses on managing interactions with Korean and international investors and handling activities that require a high level of external engagement. Meanwhile, the IR Planning Team oversees policy-related tasks, such as company information disclosures and shareholder meetings.
Given that each team handles different types of tasks with varying scopes of collaboration and expected outcomes, team members need to possess skills and expertise tailored to their specific responsibilities.
“Members of the IR Planning Team must possess a strong awareness of compliance and a thorough understanding of relevant systems and regulations,” stated Lee Seung-ju, head of the IR Planning Team. “In contrast, the IR Communications Team requires exceptional communication skills, as their role involves extensive interaction with both Korean and global investors.” Additionally, it is crucial for members of both teams to have a comprehensive understanding of capital markets, the industry landscape and the various segments of the company’s operations.
The daily routines of LG’s IR Division members are significantly influenced by the time of year. “Our work follows a distinct cycle that typically aligns with quarterly, semi-annual and annual financial reporting schedules,” explained Kim Seung-hyun, head of the IR Communication Team. “Key recurring tasks include annual events such as the general shareholder meeting, quarterly earnings announcements and Non-Deal Roadshows (NDRs).* As these dates approach, our focus shifts to organizing these events.”
For instance, quarterly earnings announcements are generally shared in late April, July, October and January. “In the roughly 20 days leading up to these announcements, we collaborate closely with various organizations across business units to shape the company’s message to the market,” explained Kim. “We carefully consider how this information might impact our stakeholders once it becomes public.”
The annual general shareholder meeting also demands significant attention, as the IR teams must adhere to strict legal procedures under Korea’s Commercial Act. “We typically begin preparations in the fourth quarter for a meeting scheduled for next March, where we will discuss the previous year’s financial results,” added Lee.
In contrast to these predictable, routine activities, the capital markets are constantly evolving, necessitating flexibility and precision in communications and shareholder policy. “Since we are influenced by external variables, our non-routine tasks often involve new or unfamiliar situations, making IR work highly dynamic,” said Kim.
Skilled, creative and highly dedicated, LG’s IR Division has garnered recognition for its stellar work and commitment to transparent communications. Recently, the Division was honored with the Financial Services Commission Chairman’s Award (Grand Prize) at the 2024 Korea IR Awards hosted by the Korea Investor Relations Service. This accolade is not their first; they received the Grand Prize in the Corporate category in 2021 and the IR Council Chairman’s Award (Excellence Award) last year. This recognition is particularly meaningful as corporate value enhancement has become a key focus in global capital markets. LG has been acknowledged by capital market authorities and experts from various fields for its ongoing efforts to communicate with the market in a structured and sincere manner.
LG’s IR Division has been actively incorporating Future Vision 2030, the company’s mid- to long-term strategic direction, into investor communications. With this far-reaching vision, LG aims to drive sustainable growth by transitioning to a future-oriented business model while building on the world-class competitiveness and expertise it has developed over decades in core businesses such as home appliances. The IR Division’s consistent and genuine commitment to enhancing both corporate and shareholder value has been widely praised.
Since the Future Vision 2030 announcement last July, the company has bolstered external communications around business performance and direction. At major IR events, such as the general shareholder meeting, corporate presentations for international investors and investor forums, top LG executives – including the CEO and CFO – have engaged directly with the market in an open, transparent manner. Starting this year, LG has elevated its regular earnings conference calls. Previously led by IR and business unit management executives, the calls are now directly managed by the CFO.
Additionally, early this year, LG announced a new three-year dividend policy to improve shareholder value, featuring an increased payout ratio, a minimum annual dividend and semi-annual dividend payouts. In August, LG led Korea’s top 10 conglomerates by pre-announcing a value-up program focused on enhancing enterprise value. Then, on October 22, LG unveiled its “Corporate Value Enhancement Plan,” integrating its Future Vision 2030 with additional shareholder initiatives, including a target return on equity (ROE) of 10 percent or higher by 2027. Future actions under consideration include canceling existing treasury shares, additional share buybacks and potentially adopting quarterly dividends.
“Through these steps, we’re consistently demonstrating a sincere and proactive commitment to both corporate and shareholder value enhancement,” explained Lee.
Corporate value isn’t just about the numbers on financial statements; it also includes intangibles like future growth potential, the company’s image and brand value. “We have the major responsibility of representing LG Electronics and communicating its true corporate value to the market,” noted Kim. “We strive to be a model IR organization – one that embodies professionalism, passion and authenticity.”
Stay tuned to
link hidden, please login to view to learn more about other teams and roles at LG Electronics. # # #
* Non-Deal Roadshow (NDR) is an activity where a company’s management meets with investors, analysts and other stakeholders to provide insights into the company’s business strategy, financial performance and future outlook. Unlike a Deal Roadshow (DR), which is focused on promoting a specific securities offering or transaction, NDRs can be seen as an IR activity targeting existing shareholders.
-
By News Reporter
Collaboration Spans On-Device AI, Future Mobility and More
SEOUL, Nov. 12, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) and Tenstorrent are pleased to announce an expanded collaboration, building on their initial chiplet project to develop System-on-Chips (SoCs) and systems for the global market. Through this partnership, LG aims to enhance its design and development capabilities for AI chips tailored to its products and services, aligning with its vision of “Affectionate Intelligence.” LG is dedicated to advancing AI-driven innovation, with a focus on enhancing its AI-powered home appliances and smart home solutions, as well as expanding its capabilities in future mobility and commercial applications.
Recognizing the critical role of high-performance AI semiconductors in implementing AI technology, LG plans to strengthen its in-house development capabilities while collaborating with leading global companies, including Tenstorrent, to boost its AI competitiveness.
Tenstorrent is renowned for its ability to design world-class high-performance computing (HPC) semiconductors using its RISC-V* IP (Ascalon) and AI IP (Tensix). Their IP is engineered to scale from milliwatts to megawatts, delivering exceptional efficiency and performance.
Recently, LG CEO William Cho met with Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller at the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul, to discuss strategic collaboration. The meeting was attended by key executives from each company, including LG’s CTO Kim Byoung-hoon and the head of the SoC Center, as well as Tenstorrent’s CCO David Bennett and VP of Automotive.
During their discussions, the two companies explored opportunities to leverage their intellectual properties, design assets and technologies, aiming to create synergies across various business areas including AI home appliances, smart home solutions, future mobility, and video processing solutions for the data center market. Both CEOs emphasized the importance of enhancing capabilities in next-generation system semiconductors, including RISC-V and chiplets, to navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Additionally, Tenstorrent and LG are considering the establishment of a long-term internship program as part of their collaboration.
LG is committed to advancing its AI-related software and algorithm technologies to provide customers with products, platforms and services based on generative AI. This includes the development of AI chips to secure competitiveness in on-device AI technology.
“Tenstorrent is bringing the industry’s best AI and RISC-V technology to this collaboration,” said William Cho, CEO of LG Electronics. “We aim to deliver a new customer experience through our unique Affectionate Intelligence, focusing on personalized, caring and attentive solutions that better understand our customers and can provide tangible value.”
“LG has a strong SoC development organization and Tenstorrent is excited to continue to partner with them,” said Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent. “Customers are looking for customizable solutions – our AI and RISC-V technology enables LG to own their silicon future.”
Meanwhile, LG has established a dedicated SoC R&D center specializing in system semiconductor design and development. The SoC Center excels in the design, development and verification of these chips, focusing on advancing high-performance SoCs using the chiplet technology. Chiplet technology integrates multiple chips into a single package and is gaining attention due to the rising demand for high-performance, low-power AI semiconductors.
The system chips used in LG’s key products have all been developed under the leadership of the SoC Center. LG’s proprietary AI chip for home appliances, “DQ-C,” and the “LG α (Alpha) 11 AI Processor” for OLED TVs have significantly strengthened the company’s leadership in the global AI appliance and premium TV markets.
As AI becomes increasingly pivotal in the industry, the importance of system chip design capabilities is growing across all business areas. LG is continuously enhancing its system semiconductor design capabilities and linking them with AI-related software and algorithm technologies to proactively prepare for the future. Ultimately, the goal is to provide Affectionate Intelligence solutions in all everyday spaces, offering a differentiated customer experience.
# # #
* RISC-V is an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) based on reduced instruction set computing (RISC) principles, allowing for flexible and customizable processor designs.
link hidden, please login to view -
By News Reporter
Simplifying Complex Driving With Intuitive Navigation Guidance
SEOUL, Nov. 6, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) has been awarded the prestigious “King Sejong Award” at the 2024 Technology Patent Awards for its pioneering augmented reality (AR) technology designed for vehicles. This annual event, organized by the Korean Intellectual Property Office, recognizes patents registered within the past decade that contribute to enhancing South Korea’s industrial competitiveness.
The patent for LG’s advanced vehicle AR technology was submitted both domestically and internationally in 2022. This innovative system aims to improve the future mobility experience by leveraging AR to visualize various driving scenarios. It generates 3D graphics that provide vehicle information and navigation guidance on in-vehicle displays.
Driving can often be confusing, especially on complex roads or unfamiliar routes, where estimating distances or directions becomes challenging. LG’s in-vehicle AR technology alleviates this confusion by providing clear guidance lines that drivers can easily follow. The system employs sophisticated algorithms to integrate data from various vehicle sensors, including smart cameras, navigation systems and driver assistance sensors, along with external data sources. By harnessing information from GPS, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies, the system can predict potential hazards and accident risks based on the vehicle’s location and surrounding environment, thereby enhancing safety during journeys.
A key feature of LG’s patented technology is its ability to display dynamic AR images. This capability makes route guidance more intuitive by adjusting the symbols representing the vehicle and directional guidance – such as combining a spade and chevron into an arrow shape or separating them – based on real-time driving conditions. The AR graphics can seamlessly separate, transform and merge, allowing the system to visually convey complex driving information, such as speed, incline, lane changes and route recalculations, in a manner that can be easily understood by the driver.
LG plans to leverage this advanced vehicle AR technology to develop future mobility solutions for global automakers and accelerate the development of new mobility software. The company also aims to generate royalty-based revenue from the patent.
“LG is excited to utilize its award-winning AR technology to create mobility solutions that elevate driver convenience and contribute to safer roads for everyone,” said Kim Dong-wook, head of the B2B Advanced Technology Center at LG Electronics. “Moving forward, we will continue to refine our AR technology to ensure compatibility across all vehicle platforms. We anticipate that this exciting innovation will significantly contribute to the growth of our software business.”
# # #
link hidden, please login to view -
By News Reporter
New Program Connects LG, Strategic Partners and Startups to
Ignite Collaboration and Development of Innovative Ideas for a Better Future
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 19, 2024 — LG Electronics today announced the launch of the LG NOVA Partner Alliance Program – a platform that brings together corporate partners and startups for cross-industry collaborations, technology and business development, and commercial partnerships to catalyze the growth of innovations for the future.
Spearheaded by LG NOVA, LG Electronics’ North America Innovation Center, the Program extends the success of LG NOVA’s mission to co-create new ventures with startups to its corporate partners with the goal to encourage exponential growth of new innovations in the market by creating more pathways for innovative ideas to flourish at a greater rate.
Joining the Partner Alliance Program at launch are
link hidden, please login to view, , , , and the . These organizations have all signed on to work with LG NOVA and its extensive startup ecosystem to generate and explore new concepts; develop, test and validate those concepts; and collaborate on innovative product solutions or even co-create new businesses. Additional partners will be added to the Partner Alliance Program in the coming months. “The new Partner Alliance Program aligns with our core mission to collaborate and create an eco-system for startups to thrive and ensure that the innovations today become the market-leading solutions of tomorrow,” said Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, corporate executive vice president for Innovation, LG Electronics and head of LG NOVA.
Kevin Chong, LG NOVA’s head of corporate and business development, said, “This program is a win-win for all parties, including LG, as we continue to explore new ideas for business co-creation. The growth of new ideas and cross-industry collaboration will help the markets move forward faster towards a better future that benefits all of us, businesses, people and the planet.”
In bringing on corporate partners to its Program, LG NOVA is helping to create more opportunities for startups to find quintessential industry partners that will help it reach commercial success at a larger level, Chong explained. For the corporate partners, finding innovative startups to work with will help them address new market opportunities, extend their businesses into new areas and better address the changing needs of their customers.
The Partner Alliance Program will leverage the resources of LG Electronics existing business units while also tapping into the pipeline of startups and resources available through the LG NOVA’s – a broad umbrella of programs designed around engaging with the entire innovation ecosystem to explore ideas on creating a better future through collaboration and tech innovations.
LG NOVA and the newly announced partners in the Partner Alliance Program plan to share more about their goals and vision for this program at the 2024 LG NOVA InnoFest, Sept. 25-26, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Calif.
LG NOVA’s annual InnoFest conference unites business leaders, innovators and investors to collaborate on solutions for a better future, this year, under the theme of “Lighting the Halo of Innovation,” inspiring attendees to focus on impactful co-creation and bold ideas. For more information about this year’s event visit .
###
-
By News Reporter
Companies to Jointly Develop Total Solutions for Virtual Production and XR Studios
SEOUL, Sep. 9, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) announces it has acquired a stake in
link hidden, please login to view (Mo-Sys), a market leading developer of virtual production solutions and camera robotics. The strategic seed investment and partnership will expand LG’s capabilities in the virtual production and broadcasting technology segments, enabling it to deliver a more comprehensive lineup of sophisticated hardware- and software-based solutions. Formerly the exclusive province of the movie industry, virtual production studios are becoming increasingly popular with TV broadcasters, and with corporations and educational institutions seeking to create their own content in house. Employing a wide array of advanced technologies, including large-scale LED screens, camera tracking, LED controllers and media servers, virtual production stages have brought a new dimension – and a raft of new possibilities – to the art of visual storytelling.
Renowned for its industry-leading display technology, LG has already established itself in this growing segment, providing its Micro LED and LED screens for both virtual reality (VR) studios and extended reality (XR) stages. Through its newly-signed strategic partnership with Mo-Sys, LG will be able to offer a fuller range of solutions for virtual production and XR studios. As part of the agreement, the two companies will be able to seamlessly support customers who choose to combine LG’s LED displays and controllers with Mo-Sys’s XR products and systems to create a total solution for XR.
“We’re excited by this new partnership, and by the unique value we’ll be able to deliver to customers through combining LG’s mastery of display technology with Mo-Sys’s expertise in virtual production solutions,” said Paik Ki-mun, senior vice president and head of the Information Display business unit of LG Business Solutions Company. “LG will continue to pursue collaboration with partners to strengthen its capabilities as a provider of B2B solutions and innovative experiences.”
Michael Geissler, CEO of Mo-Sys Engineering, commented, “We are delighted to have LG’s support as we continue to innovate in the field of next-generation virtual production technology. Their investment will enable us to enhance our R&D efforts, drive sustainability, and create more efficient production solutions.”
LG virtual production solutions will be on show at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2024 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (September 13-16). For more information, visit .
# # #
-
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.