Mirae Asset bolsters US market presence with ETF arm Global X

Mirae Asset Global Investments has made a big stride forward in the US exchange-traded funds market in the last five years following its acquisition of New York-based fund management firm Global X.

ETF provider Global X had about 8 trillion won ($6.29 billion) in managed assets when it was taken over by the Korean asset manager in 2018, the current AUM increased by six times to 45 trillion won as of end of 2022, according to Mirae Asset Global Investments on Tuesday.

Global X’s five-year compound annual growth rate stood at 29.13 percent, showing a solid growth rate compared to the industry average of 14.5 percent during the same period. The number of ETF products that Global X dealing with has grown from 49 to 100.

The company attributed the strong performance to its efforts on discovering innovative themes and expanding product lineup into industry sector ETFs and commodities ETFs.

The fund management firm’s flagship product “the Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF,” that follows a covered call strategy in which the ETF buys the stocks in the Nasdaq 100 index, then sells corresponding call options to generate income for investors holds 8 trillion won in AUM.

Having been expanding its presence in the US, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the global ETF market, Mirae Asset plans to further broaden its global network.

“With its excellent capital market, the US leads the ETF industry and is an essential market to grow as a global ETF manager,” said Kim Bum-seok, an executive director of corporate communication at Mirae Asset Global Investments.

In June of last year, Mirae Asset Global Investments and Global X jointly acquired ETF Securities, an Australian ETF provider. It was the first case in which a Korean manager taking over an overseas ETF manager with profits earned abroad.

To put an impetus to the synergy between the Korean firm and its US ETF arm, Mirae Asset plans to rebrand its Australian and Brazilian units to Global X Australia and Global X Brazil.

It also plans to diversify its business through exchanges between Mirae Asset's overseas entities and Global X around the world, such as Global X Japan, which was established as a joint venture with Japan's Daiwa Securities Group in 2019.