ASSET MANAGEMENT
MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL INVESTMENTS

Under its goal of becoming a global financial company, Mirae Asset Global Investments has been expanding its presence overseas by operating over 1,700 financial products in 36 countries around the world.

The asset management unit of Mirae Asset Financial Group is in its 17th year of global operation since it launched its first overseas unit in Hong Kong in 2003 and has ceaselessly made inroads across the globe including financial markets in the US, UK, Brazil and India.

As of the end of April, the company’s operating assets marked over 74 trillion won ($61.05 billion), accounting for some 47 percent of its total assets.

Starting with Mirae Asset Asia-Pacific Star Fund in 2005, the company introduced the nation’s first overseas fund to local investors. It also rolled out SICAV, an open-ended mutual fund in Luxembourg for offshore investors three years after.

The exchange-traded fund business is another forte of the asset manager. The total amount of 368 global ETF products reached about 40 trillion won as of the end of April -- jumping about six times from 2011, the firm said.

This accomplishment has led it to list among the top 10 asset management firms with the most ETFs’ net assets around the world. The company listed its ETF on the Hong Kong stock trade exchange in 2011 as the first Korean asset manager to do so and acquired Horizon ETFs, a Canadian ETF manager, the same year, marking its entry to North American market with its ETF products.

Mirae‘s strength in ETFs is expected to lead into a fast growing market of ETF managed portfolios, where more than 50 percent of portfolio assets are invested in ETFs, the company said.

Responding to the era of low growth, low inflation and low interest rates, officials said the Korean asset manager would provide effective investment solutions by exporting financial products.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, only 27 out of 300 asset management companies have made inroads into global market as of Dec. last year. In number of Korean asset management offices launched overseas, Mirae Asset Global Investment accounts for 24 percent of the total.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)