In this Jan. 13 file photo, Mirae Asset Financial Group Chairman Park Hyun-joo, center, stands next to officials from Mirae Asset Global Investments' India entity at an event held in Mumbai to celebrate its 15th anniversary in the country. Courtesy of Mirae Asset Global Investments
Mirae Asset Global Investments, which has grown into the 9th biggest asset manager in India, is expected to continue its remarkable growth this year.
After establishing a corporation in Mumbai in 2006, Mirae Asset started business in India in 2008 by launching its first fund there.
Despite being an attractive emerging market comparable to China, foreign companies have found India tricky due to its complex tax system and regulations.
While most foreign asset managers withdrew from India after the global financial crisis, Mirae Asset, which is currently India's only independent foreign asset manager, focused on localization and making proactive investments.
Marking its 15th anniversary in India this year, Mirae Asset is now the 9th largest asset manager in the country, managing around 24 trillion won ($18.5 billion).
Led by Mirae Asset Financial Group Chairman Park Hyun-Joo, who is also the Global Strategy Officer, Mirae Asset actively competes across diverse markets overseas through a global network, rather than confining itself to the domestic market.
Among them, India stands as one of the countries that Mirae Asset is especially focused on. Recently, the group promoted Swarup Mohanty, who leads Mirae Asset Investment Managers in India, to vice chairman. He is the first foreign national to be a vice chairman in the history of Mirae Asset.
Mirae Asset is focused on India for its growth potential. Citing the significant share of young people among its 1.4 billion population and its status as an IT powerhouse, economists expect the country to make a quantum leap.
At the 15th anniversary celebration for its Indian business early this year, Mirae Asset Financial Group Chairman Park Hyun-joo said Indians’ fervor for education and high self-esteem as well as its world-class universities and prevalence of English make it a country with infinite growth potential, and vowed that the asset manager will grow together with India.
The asset manager’s Indian corporation recorded a cumulative net profit of 35 billion won in the third quarter of this year, close to the total of the previous year's record of 37.1 billion won.
In contrast to most other players facing stagnation in global markets, Mirae Asset has shown rapid growth in India, with its net profit surging from a mere 14.1 billion won in 2019 to 15.5 billion won in 2020, 24 billion won in 2021 and 37.1 billion won in 2022.
Mirae Asset is expanding its areas of business in India, to encompass not only fund management and advisory services but also nonbanking financial companies lending to real estate and corporate entities, venture capital investing in Indian startups and asset management services for the affluent. Recently, it also established Mirae Asset Global Indices as an in-house index company in India.
In line with the rapid growth of the wealth management market in India, Mirae Asset established a branch in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, becoming the first Korean asset manager to enter the Middle East. With Indians accounting for around 35 percent of its population, Dubai has a substantial demand for investments in Indian local funds.
The asset manager in India has 24 trillion won custody assets and 5.5 million accounts as of the end of September, which shows the rapid growth of the wealth management business there.
“After entering the Indian market with a capital of 50 billion won, we stood by India despite financial crisis that led all overseas asset managers to withdraw and grew into a comprehensive financial company,” a Mirae Asset spokesperson said.
“Since India's growth story is still ongoing, we will focus on creating and developing new business areas,” he added.
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