Park Hyun-joo, chairman and founder of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Group, on Thursday urged analysts to explore innovative companies, stressing shifting investment strategies focusing on the growth potential of companies rather than assessment of the manufacturing value chain.

At an online investment strategy meeting, Park referred to unexpected innovations that could have a significant impact on the market, saying that the markets are transitioning from a focus on the value chain to innovation and that investors should pay attention to companies that bring innovation. 

One should remember that the price-earnings ratio of an innovative company always tends to be high, Park said.

During the meeting, streamed on YouTube, the chairman touched on the upcoming trends and competition in the electric vehicle, cloud computing and semiconductor industries.

Cloud computing is worth paying attention to, considering it is a rare industry that grows 20 percent each year, Park said.

“Batteries seem to be a safe bet if you are not sure about which EV company to invest in, because they all have to use batteries,” Park said. “Considering all these trends, it is likely that the automobile industry will lead the innovation this year.”

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)