Asset management firms’ net profits soar 46% in Q2

The combined net profits of asset management firms in South Korea jumped 46 percent on-year during the April-June period this year amid the local stock market’s sharp rebound, data showed Tuesday.

The net income of 10 companies here came to 145.8 billion won ($122.95 million) in the second quarter, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Contrary to the previous quarter, when only four asset management companies saw their net profits rising, all of the AMCs’ net income increased during the April-June period.

Among the firms, seven of them logged double-digit net profit increases in the given period, the data showed.

Samsung Asset Management, Samsung Group’s wealth management unit, marked its net profit increase 33 percent on-year to post 18.3 billion won in the second quarter, up nearly 4 billion won from the last quarter.

Mirae Asset Global Investments, the wealth management unit of Mirae Asset Financial Group, also saw its net income increase by nearly 70 percent to 74.4 billion won from a year earlier. The firm recorded 126.5 billion won worth of net profit in the first half of this year.

The net profits of KB Asset Management and Korea Investment Management posted 13 billion won and 10.9 billion won, up 23 percent and 26 percent, respectively, in the given period.

Kiwoom Asset Management experienced the biggest net profit increase, surging 147 percent on-year to 6 billion won. It recorded 2.4 billion won a year earlier, the data showed.

While Seoul-based Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management’s net income rose 6 percent to 6.5 billion won, NH-Amundi Asset Management saw its net profit increased by 15 percent to 5.3 billion won.

Local industry officials attributed their companies’ net profit rises in the second half of this year to the increasing net asset value of their funds, on the back of the local stock market’s rapid recovery from the previous quarter.

In the first half of this year, the nation’s main bourse Kospi hit rock bottom on March 19 at 1,457.64 but surged by 50.63 percent to 2,195.69 on June 10. The tech-heavy Kosdaq, which crashed to 428.35 on the same day, also spiked to 759.50 on June 24, up 77.31 percent, in the cited period.

“Local stock indexes, which crumbled in the first quarter, recovered sharply in the second quarter. It led to a jump in our funds’ net asset value, which further resulted in higher fund operating earnings,” an asset management company official said on condition of anonymity.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)