Ten years have passed since Mirae Asset Global Investments became the first South Korean asset management company to draw investment from foreign clients.

Today, as Korea’s leading asset management firm in terms of assets under management, Mirae Asset Global Investments has a long track record of business overseas, ranging from managing foreign investors’ assets to listing exchange-traded funds and taking on cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

The numbers indicate the strength of its emphasis on overseas business.

As of October, the company’s AUM at home and abroad reached a combined 150 trillion won ($132.8 billion). Its AUM in overseas markets accounted for over a fifth of its total AUM.

This year alone, its AUM in foreign business entities rose by more than 11 trillion won. Its public funds raised some 6 trillion won from foreign investors from 36 countries.

Mirae Asset’s overseas journey began with Indian investors. In 2008, Mirae Asset Global Investments India began raising funds -- stock funds in March of that year followed by bond funds in April.

To this day, the Indian corporation’s AUM has grown steadily and topped 3 trillion won as of July, making it the 16th-largest of India’s 40 asset management firms. The pace of growth for its AUM was the highest in the country for two consecutive years until 2017.

Mirae Asset Global Investments’ track record is not limited to attracting foreign investment in its funds.

Mirae Asset Global Investments saw exponential growth in business related to exchange-traded funds, including homegrown Tiger ETF, Horizon ETF and BetaShares ETF. Their combined net assets are estimated at over $30 billion. The Korean company’s acquisitions of Canada’s Horizon ETFs Management and the US’ Global X Management Company have contributed to Mirae Asset’s expansion in the ETF market, according to the company.

The sector that handles private equity funds also excelled. In 2011, Mirae Asset Global Investments Private Equity teamed up with sportswear company Fila Korea to acquire shares in US golf equipment and clothing maker Acushnet Holdings in a deal worth 1.2 trillion won. Acushnet went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year. 

Since its founding in 1997, Mirae Asset Global Investments established its first overseas unit in Hong Kong in 2003. Now Mirae Asset Global Investments has offshore units in 12 countries including Brazil, Australia, Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, India and Vietnam.

These overseas corporations are relentless in their efforts to broaden their business activities, the company said. Most recently in November, Mirae Asset Overseas Investment Fund Management Shanghai, a Chinese affiliate of Mirae Asset Global Investments, earned regulatory approval to manage private equity funds in China. This was another first for Mirae Asset -- no other Asia-based company had ever gained such recognition excluding those from China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)