[Finance Awards] Mirae Asset Global Investments hits W480tr milestone on global surge

Mirae Asset Global Investments crossed 480 trillion won ($326 billion) in assets under management this year as the Korean asset manager accelerates global expansion and artificial intelligence-powered innovation.

The achievement reflects balanced growth across all core businesses — exchange-traded funds, pensions, outsourced investment management services and real estate — and underscores the company’s ambition to shape the future financial market through data and AI.

Mirae Asset became the first Korean asset manager to expand overseas when it opened its Hong Kong subsidiary in 2003. It now operates across 16 regions, including the US, Canada, India, Japan and Australia.

The firm’s assets under management growth has been rapid. Assets rose from 250 trillion won in 2022 to 305 trillion won in 2023 and 378 trillion won at the end of 2024, meaning the current figure is the result of a steady increase of over 200 trillion won in just three years.

A large part of the surge comes from the global ETF business. In the US, the world’s largest ETF market, Mirae Asset subsidiary Global X, acquired in 2018, has grown into a top-tier provider. Its assets under management soared from 8 trillion won at acquisition to around 80 trillion won today. Global X EU, launched to target European investors, has posted an annual growth rate of 182 percent over the past five years.

In Korea, Mirae Asset has strengthened its dominance in the ETF market. Its Tiger ETFs recorded cumulative net purchases of 7.85 trillion won in 2024, accounting for 40 percent of all ETF net inflows, the highest among domestic managers.

The firm is also widening its lead in pensions. Mirae Asset recently opened what it calls the “Pension 2.0 era” with M-Robo, Korea’s first AI-powered robo-adviser for retirement pensions. As a pioneer in target date funds in Korea, it remains No. 1 in both establishment value and market share.

Its outsourced investment management business has also expanded, with Mirae Asset managing the National Pension Fund investment pool’s surplus funds since 2021 and introducing alternative investment products to the pool for the first time.

Alongside traditional assets, the firm is scaling global alternatives — real estate, infrastructure and venture capital. A new venture capital product for the investment pool, launched in August, marked a key shift toward startup investment.

“Mirae Asset is positioned to deliver global diversification and innovative investment solutions backed by a strong global network,” the company said. “We will continue introducing competitive, AI-driven products that support long-term financial security for investors.”

sunblessyou@heraldcorp.com