Mirae Asset rises to 12th-largest ETF manager with $141 billion in assets

South Korea’s leading asset manager Mirae Asset Financial Group has emerged as the world’s 12th-largest exchange-traded fund (ETF) manager with over 200 trillion won ($141 billion) in net asset value (NAV).

According to Mirae Asset Securities Co.'s overseas asset management affiliate Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. on Wednesday, the group operates 624 ETFs managing $141 billion across 13 countries as of the end of November.

Mirae Asset doubled its ETF assets in just three years. In 2021, it managed 100 trillion won in NAV globally.

The company attributed its rapid growth to its aggressive mergers and acquisitions strategy, through which it has established a broad global network.

Mirae Asset entered the ETF market in 2006 under the leadership of Chairman Park Hyeon Joo, launching ETF products under the TIGER brand in Korea. As of the end of November, TIGER ETFs held a 36% market share in the domestic ETF market.

Park, founder and chairman of the group, assumed the group’s global investment and strategy officer (GISO) role in 2018 to lead Mirae Asset’s global expansion.

AGGRESSIVE M&As

Park has pushed the investment firm’s global expansion through M&As.

Under his leadership, Mirae Asset Global Investments acquired Canada’s Horizons ETFs in 2011, which was rebranded as Global X Investments Canada Inc.

Global X Canada has become the fourth-largest ETF manager in the country, with a focus on income-generating ETFs that periodically pay out cash.

In 2018, the company acquired the US-based Global X ETFs for $488 million. Global X ETFs, known for its strength in thematic ETFs, has seen a fivefold rise in assets under management since then.

Mirae Asset also bought Sydney-based ETF Securities, which accounts for 4% of Australia’s ETF market, for 120 billion won ($95.2 million) and later rebranded it as Global X ETFs Australia.

Last year, Mirae Asset bought the UK’s leading ETF manager Goldenberg Hehmeyer LLP (GHCO) for $35 million to step up its ETF services in Europe, the world’s second-largest after the US.

RAPID GROWTH IN INDIA

Mirae Asset's growth in Asia is noteworthy.

It established Mirae Asset Global Investments’ first global affiliate in Hong Kong in December 2003.

In 2011, it became the first Korean asset management firm to list an ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Mirae Asset has also established Global X Japan, a joint venture with Daiwa Securities, in 2019.

Mirae Asset’s Indian subsidiary is one of its fastest-growing affiliates worldwide.

Mirae Asset Securities established its India operations in 2018 – Korea’s first brokerage to do so in the country.

Over the past three years, its Indian subsidiary’s ETF net assets have grown at an average annual rate of 61.1%, nearly triple the overall growth rate of India’s ETF market.

Mirae Asset’s localization strategy has helped elevate its Indian subsidiary to become the ninth-largest asset manager in the country.

In December 2023, it acquired Sharekhan Ltd., India’s 10th-largest brokerage firm, for $360 million to enhance its presence in the Southeast Asian country, one of the world’s fastest-growing markets in the post-China era.

Mirae Asset is broadening its business scope in the region in various ETF-related areas. It has also established Mirae Asset Global Indices, an index provider in India.

“Mirae Asset continues to innovate for a competitive edge in the global market,” said Kim Young-hwan, head of Mirae Asset Global Investments’ innovation and global management division.

Write to Su-Ji Na at suji@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.