Mirae Asset Global reaps record annual profit as diversification bears fruit

Mirae Asset Global Investments, an asset management arm of investment banking group Mirae Asset, reaped a record annual profit for 2020 as its efforts to diversify its product pipeline and beef up its global profile paid off.

The latest filing by the second-largest asset management firm in South Korea, overseeing 112.1 trillion won ($99 billion) in assets as of end-2020, showed that its net profit throughout last year came to 256.4 billion won, up 66.2 percent from a year prior.

The figure marked the highest since its foundation in 1997. It also outstripped its domestic rival Samsung Asset Management’s 70.7 billion won.

Mirae Asset Global said it strived to offer its clients a wider variety of investment schemes. These range from target date funds, which readjust the asset allocation mix in a more conservative way through an individual client’s life cycle; to thematic exchange-traded funds, which allow clients to capture specific market trends and gain exposure to assets well aligned with such trends.

This translated into higher income from fees, which surged 22 percent to 560.8 billion won, as the company’s AUM rose 6.7 percent in 2020.

The company added that the total net value of its portfolio assets as of end-2020 came to 132 trillion won, up 12 percent from the previous year.

Moreover, Mirae Asset Global’s 15 overseas arms in 12 countries, including New York-based ETF provider Global X, have seen their combined AUM jump 37 percent to 26.4 trillion won.

“(Mirae Asset Global) has diversified its financial product lineup by adding more thematic ETFs, TDFs and alternative investing schemes to our pipeline, and its overseas investment gains have crystalized,” Mirae Asset said in a statement. “We will continue to expand our footprint in the overseas financial services market.”

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