Mirae Asset Chairman Park Hyeon-joo/Photo courtesy of Mirae Asset

Korea's top financial group chalks up handsome profits

Mirae Asset, which is headed by founding Chairman Park Hyeon-joo, topped 1 trillion won ($865 million) in operating profit, pre-tax profit, and net profit last year.

It marks the first time for the Seoul-based financial group to achieve the milestone in all three categories since its foundation in 1997.

All of its five major affiliates saw their 2019 profits increase from a year ago. Included in them are Mirae Asset Global Investments, Mirae Asset Daewoo, and Mirae Asset Life Insurance.

Mirae Asset Daewoo, the country’s top brokerage house, chalked up almost 900 billion won in pre-tax profit, while those for Mirae Asset Global Investments and Mirae Asset Life Insurance were 220 billion won and 148 billion won, respectively.

The other two units of Mirae Asset Capital and Mirae Asset Consulting also racked up profits last year. They had been stuck in the negative territory through 2018.

The massive profits led to an increase in the group’s shareholder capital, which amounted to 16 trillion won as of the end of last December compared to 14 trillion won in 2018.

This prompts ratings agencies to give top ratings to Mirae Asset companies.

A Mirae Asset official said that the group’s global competitiveness underpinned the handsome results of accomplishing “Triple Crown” in bottom lines.

Indeed, Mirae Asset recorded more than 200 billion won in pre-tax profits from its overseas operations for the first time among South Korean financial corporations.

Mirae Asset made a foray into the international market in 2003, just six years after its debut, through establishing an subsidiary in Hong Kong.

Then the group tapped into such countries as India, the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Currently, it runs 40 networks in 15 countries and regions across the world.

Representative units

In terms of net profits, Mirae Asset Daewoo is a runaway leader because the brokerage house has been second to none for the past 14 years in the domestic market.

Mirae Asset Global Investments is dealing with about 1,700 products in some 36 countries. Its asset under management stood at 172 trillion won as of the end of this February.

Other outfits in the life insurance, consulting, and capital markets also have fared well to stay ahead of the pack in their respective markets.
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