Mirae Asset Securities exceeds $3 bn in overseas equity

Mirae Asset Securities Co. said on Tuesday it owns more than 4 trillion won ($3 billion) of equity capital in overseas operations as of June 30 of this year, the largest amount for a South Korean brokerage firm. Its overseas equity has surged about 600 times since the establishment of the firm’s first global office in Hong Kong in 2004.

The Seoul-based brokerage house’s overseas operations logged 63.4 billion won in net profit as of end-June. It has posted more than 100 billion won in annual net profit from its global businesses since 2018.

The firm’s expansion in overseas operations is led by Hyeon Joo Park, founder and Global Strategy Officer (GSO) of Mirae Asset Financial Group. Under his leadership, the group spurs investing in global artificial intelligence firms and robo-advisors that provide financial planning services, including Australia-based Stockspot earlier this month.

Mirae Asset Securities runs its overseas affiliates in 10 countries, including Indonesia, India, Vietnam, the UK and the US. It has focused on customized strategies for each market, such as online trading account operations and acquisitions of local financial firms.

The company is leading stock trading services in Indonesia and Vietnam via online transaction systems. In Indonesia, the company topped brokerage firms last year in terms of stock trading, with an 8.2% market share. In Vietnam, it ranked fourth with a 6.3% share in the same year.

It has expanded its presence in advanced countries by acquiring local financial firms. Mirae Asset Securities bought the UK’s leading exchange-traded funds (ETFs) manager Goldenberg Hehmeyer LLP (GHCO) with a $35 million injection in May of this year to step up its ETF services in Europe.

Its affiliate Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. boosts the synergy of the brokerage house’s ETF operations. The asset manager bought New York-based Global X ETF for $488 million in 2018 and Sydney-based ETF Securities, which makes up around 4% of Australia’s ETF market, for 120 billion won and rebranded it as Global X ETFs last September.

Mirae Asset Financial Group’s pre-tax income last year reached $1.6 billion, in which overseas shares accounted for 23%. The group aims to raise the proportion to 50% in the mid to long term.

Write to Sang Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.