Mirae Asset’s global ETFs exceed W15tr in assets

 Mirae Asset Global Investments said Thursday its exchange-traded funds around the globe have exceeded 15 trillion won ($13.4 billion) in assets under management as of the end of February.

The asset management company under Mirae Asset Financial Group said the number of Mirae Asset ETFs amounted to 220 in six countries -- Korea, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, the US and Colombia.

The growth of ETFs was particularly strong in 2016 with the assets under management of the ETFs increasing by 3 trillion won last year alone, the company said.

The asset management firm attributed the strong assets under management growth of ETFs to various product lineups.

Traditional ETFs are passive types, simply tracking a stock index or a bond index, but a significant proportion of Mirae Asset ETFs are actively managed as well, the company said.

Mirae Asset launched its first TIGER ETF series on the Korea Exchange in 2006.

Its global expansion began in 2011 when the company became the first Korean asset management firm to have an ETF listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with the Kospi 200 ETF.

In the same year, the company acquired Canada’s leading ETF manager Horizon ETFs and entered the North American capital market.

In Australia, the company manages BetaShares ETFs that trade on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Mirae Asset Global Investments’ 120 employees currently manage 220 global ETFs, according to the company.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)