Navigating trade risks, FTI exec advises caution, scenario planning
Amid escalating trade uncertainties fueled by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, many South Korean firms are scrambling to reassess their supply chains and investment strategies. Yet one global consulting executive advises companies to refrain from making hasty decisions and instead focus on gathering information and developing contingency plans.
“Have as much information as they can have, to the extent that there are plans that they can develop based on scenarios,” Luke Schaeffer, senior managing director and global leader of strategy and transformation at FTI Consulting, told The Korea Herald in an interview held in Seoul on Wednesday. “There’s also a lot of happening in a very short period of time and sometimes, not making any decisions until there’s a little bit more clarity is also probably a smart thing to do.”
Schaeffer, in particular, advised companies to get a deeper understanding of their product lines, components, operating territories and the potential implications given where some of the tariff announcements might have an impact.
While it’s difficult to predict the full impacts of tariffs at this point, Schaeffer is bullish on Korean firms’ ability to weather this uncertainty.
“I think the Korean market is a strong market with strong players who have a global footprint as it is. So my guess is they are quite well-positioned in all this,” he said.
Schaeffer’s visit to Korea comes as Washington, DC-based FTI Consulting is ramping up its presence in Korea as part of a broader push into the Asian market. Prior to arriving in Seoul, he visited Dubai, Singapore and Australia.
“When I started with FTI 22 years ago, we were only in the US and it was less than 500 professionals. Now we are 8,300 professionals and some of that growth has certainly come through the expansion of geogrpahies,” he said. “Asia is another opportunity for us as a business and it’s an important set of markets.”
FTI Consulting’s Korean operations, led by Sunny Yi — senior managing director and head of North Asia business transformation, and former CEO of Shinhan Digital Solution Company — currently focus on two areas. They are economic consulting — covering antitrust, competition and regulatory issues — and corporate finance and restructuring, which includes the business transformation that Schaeffer globally leads.
Business transformation, Schaeffer explained, involves helping corporate boards, investors, or C-suite executives achieve revenue growth, operational improvements and turnaround strategies, among others.
“It can happen in growth environments; it can happen in transactions where companies are buying or selling,” he said. “It can also happen in more stressed or distressed kinds of situations, turnaround-type situations, where companies need to address their cost structure and operational effectiveness, or even find ways to grow their revenue,” he said.
What sets FTI apart from larger competitors is its restructuring heritage and hands-on approach, said Schaeffer.
“One of our tag lines is ‘experts with impact’ and that’s how we tend to differentiate ourselves,” he said. “We bring that management consulting capability set, but combined with expertise of having actually been accountable for delivering results.”
Often, FTI consultants step into interim operating executive roles and are directly responsible for driving outcomes, he added.
“It’s a little more hands-on and it’s a little more outcomes-oriented.”
Describing Korea as an “exciting market,” Schaeffer said success in Korea depends on building the right team.
“Success in a consulting business depends on people, so we are going to continue to look to attract top talent to the business,” he said, noting the importance of hiring professionals who understand the market and can advise top players in the market.
“So it’s not a financial outcome per se, it’s bringing the right people to the business and doing great work for our clients and creating value for them.”
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