Milestone marks nearly 30 years of growth from W10 bil. startup
Mirae Asset Financial Group has surpassed 1,000 trillion won ($721.18 billion) in assets under management (AUM), marking a major milestone in its nearly 30-year journey from a 10-billion-won startup to Korea’s leading global financial company.
The Seoul-headquartered firm reported 1,024 trillion won in AUM ― the total market value of assets it manages on behalf of clients ― based on its latest performance as of July.
This achievement reflects the group’s rapid growth since founder and Global Strategy Officer (GSO) Park Hyeon-joo established Mirae Asset Capital in July 1997 with just over 10 billion won, laying the foundation for a broad network of affiliates across securities, asset management, investment banking, insurance, consulting and more.
Groupwide AUM has been rising rapidly, reaching 1,000 trillion won in less than a year after standing at 906.6 trillion won in December 2024.
The group operates across 19 locations worldwide, including Hong Kong, where Mirae Asset Global Investments became the first Korean asset management company to establish an overseas presence in 2003.
Since then, the group has steadily expanded into the United States, China, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and beyond, employing around 16,000 people both in Korea and abroad.
Overseas businesses now constitute a significant share of the group’s overall earnings.
Of the total AUM, domestic assets account for 752 trillion won, while overseas assets amount to 272 trillion won.
The group’s cumulative profit before tax reached approximately 1.43 trillion won in the first half of this year, with 33 percent, or 477.6 billion won, generated from its overseas operations.
“Going forward, Mirae Asset Financial Group will leverage the industry’s largest global network to provide clients with differentiated investment opportunities,” the company said.
“We are committed to positioning ourselves as a global investment-focused company that continually strives for long-term growth,” it added.
Global market-oriented vision
Mirae Asset Financial Group’s global market-oriented strategy is rooted in GSO Park’s long-standing belief that “Korean companies must create national wealth through overseas management.”
Park has consistently emphasized the importance of bold mergers and acquisitions alongside active investments in international markets.
He openly expressed his ambition for Mirae Asset Financial Group to become Asia’s top investment company ― one that can stand shoulder to shoulder with global giants like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.
Leading the charge in realizing this vision are Mirae Asset Securities and Mirae Asset Global Investments, whose efforts complement each other in driving the group’s international growth.
Of the 1,024 trillion won in AUM, Mirae Asset Securities manages 549 trillion won, Mirae Asset Global Investments oversees 430 trillion won, and other affiliates, including Mirae Asset Life Insurance, manage 45 trillion won.
Mirae Asset Securities boasts the largest global network among Korean securities firms with 12 subsidiaries and three offices worldwide.
From its modest beginnings in December 1999 with equity capital of 50 billion won, the company’s capital has grown nearly 600-fold, surpassing 4.5 trillion won.
The firm’s recent overseas expansion includes the November 2024 acquisition of Sharekhan, India’s 10th-largest brokerage with around 3,800 employees and nearly 3 million accounts across 130 branch offices.
The acquisition aims to secure an early foothold in India’s rapidly growing securities market while generating groupwide business synergies.
Strong overseas performance, such as the U.S. subsidiary posting its highest-ever quarterly results in late 2024, has further bolstered Mirae Asset Securities’ global earnings.
Complementing these efforts, Mirae Asset Global Investments manages 430 trillion won in AUM. Around 45 percent of that, or 194 trillion won, is invested overseas, reflecting a 37 trillion won increase over the past year, driven by growth in key markets like the U.S. and India.
In the first half of 2025, the company posted a net profit of 351.7 billion won, with nearly half generated by its overseas operations.
A major engine of Mirae Asset Global Investments’ growth is its exchange-traded fund (ETF) business. ETFs are baskets of securities ― such as stocks or bonds ― that trade on exchanges like individual stocks.
The company manages 681 ETFs worldwide, with a combined net asset value of 232 trillion won.
This surpasses the total size of the domestic ETF market ― approximately 200 trillion won ― and places Mirae Asset Global Investments 12th among global ETF asset managers.
While the global ETF market has grown at an average annual rate of 17.8 percent over the past decade, Mirae Asset Global Investments has nearly doubled that pace, achieving a 34.4 percent average annual growth rate during the same period.
In August 2023, the company accelerated its expansion into the artificial intelligence-converged financial market by acquiring Australia’s leading robo-adviser, Stockspot.
This marked the first time a Korean financial company acquired an overseas robo-advisory firm, further demonstrating Mirae Asset Financial Group’s commitment to innovation and global leadership.