South Korea’s asset management companies’ combined net profit has shrunk by over half on-year in the first quarter, data showed Thursday. The net income of 300 AMCs here came to 116.4 billion won ($97.32 million) during the January-March period, down 52.3 percent from the previous year, according to data by the Financial Supervisory Service. The volume fell 11.4 percent on-quarter. Their return on equity -- a key measure of financial performance -- stood at 6.1 percent in the firs

Market June 11, 2020

Samsung Asset Management said Wednesday it has launched a fund to pool South Korean retail investor’s money into a signature fund by London-based quantitative hedge fund manager Man AHL. By investing in Man AHL’s TargetRisk fund, the Korean feeder fund is expected to offer capital growth through a long-only exposure, under which the fund manager takes advantage of profit opportunities by betting solely on undervalued assets. The Korean feeder fund, dubbed Samsung MAN Investment Ba

Market June 10, 2020

Mirae Asset Financial Group founder Park Hyeon-joo has backed a total of 315,119 students over two decades as Park donated his dividend income, the group said Monday. The fund was offered through Mirae Asset Park Hyeon-joo Foundation, established in 2000. The donations went to scholarships to over 9,000 college students, or roughly 700 students each year since 2007. Of the total, some 60 percent of students participated in exchange student programs, for which the Mirae Asset Park Hyeon-joo

Market June 8, 2020

Shinhan BNP Paribas said Sunday it has clinched a combined 520 billion won ($430.1 million) commitment to create a fund to support small firms dedicated to 280-megawatt solar energy projects across South Korea. The Seoul-based asset management firm’s deal comes amid growing new and renewable energy momentum buttressed by the nation’s recent environment initiative, called “green new deal,” aimed at investing in environmentally-friendly energy businesses and creating jobs

Market June 7, 2020

New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds Global X ETFs has launched an emerging markets bond ETF in its first actively managed strategy, its parent Mirae Asset Global Investments said Thursday. The product, dubbed Global X Emerging Markets Bond ETF, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It will target US dollar-denominated securities including fixed-rate and floating-rate debt instruments issued by sovereign, quasi-sovereign, and corporate entities from emerging market countries. T

Market June 4, 2020

France-based international private investment house Ardian said Wednesday it seeks to accelerate its push for more secondary investments in Asia, as the company has reached a historic-high $19 billion commitments to its new secondary fund from global investors. Secondary investment refers to a purchase of existing private assets and is considered a source of liquidity for institutional investors. The latest fundraising is expected to underpin Ardian’s position as a lead secondary investo

Market June 3, 2020

South Korea’s investment firm Mirae Asset Global Investments said Wednesday it is eyeing its first initial public offering for its real estate investment trust followed by a listing on the nation’s main bourse Kospi. The REIT is designed to invest in a commercial space of the commercial-residential complex dubbed Gwanggyo Central Prugio City. The real estate asset is located in a planned city of Gwanggyo in Gyeonggi Province, located some 25 kilometers south of Seoul. The REIT is e

Market June 3, 2020

South Korean social casino game developer and publisher DoubleDown Interactive is seeking to get listed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq bourse in the United States, according to its prospectus Wednesday. For its initial public offering, the Seoul-based company plans to issue 400,000 new common shares. Also up for subscriptions will be 360,000 existing shares, or 19.4 percent stake as of current, owned by STIC Investment. DoubleDown Interactive said the book building process to confirm the offered pri

Market June 3, 2020

Seoul-based Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management said Tuesday it has started to work as a fund manager for the National Health Insurance Service’s 1.4 trillion won ($1.14 billion) alternative investment for four years.  Shinhan BNP Paribas is one of the two lead fund managers, along with fellow Seoul-based investment house KB Asset Management. The two partners, selected in late April, will manage 700 billion won of assets each and choose more external partners to join their funds of

Market June 2, 2020

Real estate expert Samit Chopra was named managing director of WeWork Pacific, it announced Tuesday. Chopra is tasked with overseeing markets of the space-as-a-service platform, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Based in Singapore, Chopra will be responsible for WeWork Pacific’s profit and loss management, go-to-market strategy, sales leadership, growth and innovation and talent development, according to WeWork.

Market June 2, 2020

Seoul-based Hanwha Asset Management said Tuesday it is betting on new growth opportunities of companies dedicated to e-commerce, data infrastructure and health care by creating a fund investing in such stocks at home and abroad. The strategy comes amid consumer concerns about face-to-face contact amid the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, which rather translates into higher demand for companies in such sectors, company officials said. The demand stems from changes in people’s lifestyle,

Market June 2, 2020

South Korea’s same-day laundry service startup Laundrygo said Tuesday it had raised a 17 billion won ($13.9 million) series B round funding from multiple venture capital houses, amid growing demand for daily life services offered without physical contact in the pandemic era. New investors in the latest round include Korea Investment Partners, Aju IB Investment, KT Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, DS Asset Management. Existing investors Altos Ventures and Hana Ventures also joined

Market June 2, 2020

Seoul-based KB Asset Management said Monday it has launched an open-ended fund that invests in exchange-traded funds at home and abroad, powered by its own artificial neural network for automated portfolio allocation. The new ETF managed portfolio fund, dubbed KB All Asset AI Solution Fund, will target various ETFs -- or a basket of securities -- that each track asset classes such as stocks, bonds, loans, real estate investment trusts and commodities. Its portfolio will be automatically rebal

Market June 1, 2020

With South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund sparking a media debate over its investment in marijuana producers, some experts here said Wednesday that the case can hardly be seen as breaching its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible investing. Marijuana production itself cannot be the target of criticism, although it carries a heavy social stigma in Korea where the recreational use of marijuana is banned. Even if the investment was made by sovereign wealth fund Korea Investm

Market May 28, 2020

One Equity Partners, a spinoff of JPMorgan dedicated to middle market investment, is reportedly looking to unload part of its stake in South Korea’s drug distributor Celltrion Healthcare through a block trade for roughly 350 billion won ($283.6 million). The price of some 4 million Celltrion Healthcare shares, a 2.6 percent stake, was set at between 85,000 won and 87,000 won per share after the market closed Tuesday, according to news reports. The price was lower than the Tuesd

Market May 27, 2020