Top Investor in Emerging Markets

Mirae Asset Management eyes emerging markets as most promising area for future growth



Chairman Park Hyeon-joo of Mirae Asset Financial Group.

The Mirae Asset Financial Group held one of the most significant forums for Korea’s financial industry on Nov. 3 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul, which was entitled “The Forum for Experts on Mirae Asset Emerging Markets.”
The event brought many financial professionals from such countries as Brazil, Russia, India and China, among others, and discussed the economic prospects of BRICs for the first time in Korea. Chairman Park Hyeon-joo did not meet with reporters covering the important event, but attended every key meeting of the forum, saying “We held the event to study the economies of the BRICs, which are the key group of countries that will steer the future of the world economy in the days to follow with their vast potential for growth.”
As can be seen from the event, Chairman Park sees paving the way for his financial group’s advancement into the world financial market through the emerging countries, namely BRICs. He flies around the world to visit emerging market countries, leaving the group’s domestic operations to Vice Chairmen Koo Jae-sang and Choi Hyun-man.
The move has already produced results. Mirae Asset has been making inroads into the global financial market ahead of any of its domestic rivals including securities and asset management firms, although it was launched only 15 years ago.
Mirae Asset already has a firm grasp on the economic and financial conditions of those key emerging market countries and is going full speed ahead to crack the world financial market. In the process of its moves to crack the world financial market, Chairman Park has become a star CEO representing the Korean financial industry with a high profile both at home and abroad. He made the list of the top five financiers in Korea in 2011, selected by the Maekyung Economy ahead of such financial figures as Chairman Kim Seung-yu of Hana Financial Group, Chairman Euh Yoon-dae of KB Financial Group and President Chung Tae-young of Hyundai Capital.
Park and his financial group had a very good year last year with surprising results in many of its areas of operations. In August last year, the group opened Mirae Asset Securities’ Brazil branch in Sao Paolo, following the launch of the sale of shares in the Mirae Asset Discovery Fund in the United States, a first for a Korean investment fund. In January, Mirae Asset signed an MOU to take over an asset management firm in Taiwan.
Mirae Asset also allocated its time for social services during the years of its hectic growth through the Park Hyeon-joo Foundation, providing scholarships to some 3,000 students at home and abroad. That number rises to 7,000 students if financial support for overseas studies is included in the figures. The foundation provided a total of 15 billion won annually in scholarships in the name of training financial experts at home and abroad.
Chairman Park won the Financial Investor Award from the Korea Financial Investment Association, which set up the award to commemorate its foundation two years ago. The citation for the award noted that the chairman introduced the installment and indirect investment systems in Korea for the first time to help individuals to create wealth, which was highly recognized by the association.
His contribution to the growth of the asset management sector, especially its successful advancement overseas and the export of various private fund products, to the extent that asset management has become an important part of the financial industry, got high recognition from the association.
The chairman called for the reduction of fees charged on the consultative type of wrap account, arousing strong debate on the issue in the financial industry. Mirae Asset MAPS Global Investments Co., the property investment arm of South Korea’s largest fund management firm, plans to buy more commercial properties in China and Brazil as part of its push into emerging markets, a senior executive said.
Mirae Asset MAPS aims to acquire retail and commercial properties in Shanghai and Beijing as valuations become attractive, Byoung-Joon Park, Greater China executive director of Mirae Asset MAPS, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
He said China’s long-term economic prospects remain bright, making the country a good location for property investment. Mirae Asset MAPS also plans to buy buildings in Brazil, Park said, without giving specific targets.
“We are beginning to see some opportunities, because sellers are becoming more reasonable,” he said. Park said the company, a unit of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group that manages around US$60 billion in assets, is turning to emerging markets as the global financial crisis batters property values in the United States and Europe.
Last year, Mirae Asset MAPS canceled a $370 million deal to buy the Citicorp Center in San Francisco. The company signed the deal in mid-2008, but called it off just before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed and sent markets into a tailspin.
“We didn’t close the deal,” Park said. “It was still in escrow and we saw more and more signs that the financial crisis was worsening.” nw

Photo on courtesy of Mirae Asset